Heart Series 2: Heart of the Darkness
by Acaykath
Summary: Sakura returns to China with her father where she must deal with Syaoran's addiction and betrayal despite the Rusaki family's interference. She must also transform the cards in order to stop a threat that is acting through her cousin and once best friend.
1. The Package

**Chapter 1: The Package**

* * *

Sakura smiled when she saw her father waiting for her at the airport. She had immediately picked him out of the throng of people in the arrival's lobby. The large plaza was surrounded by gift shops selling colorful and overpriced knick-knacks for the tourists who mulled around, creating an ever-changing maze of bodies. Sakura's emerald eyes sparkled, almost as much as the ring on her finger, as she pushed her way through the crowd and embraced hher father. It had been almost a year since she had seen him last.

"Father!"

"Welcome back, Sakura." Fujitaka Kinomoto ruffled her shoulder-length brown hair. "Your hair has gotten a bit longer," He observed.

"Meiling-chan told me that Syaran-kun likes long hair," Sakura explained, "I've been growing it out for a few months now."

"He must be happy you would do that for him." Fujitaka told her, "He must have already likef you a lot to have given you such a nice ring." He smiled fondly as he remembered how Sakura had been when she was younger.

"It was custom made. He... designed it himself," Sakura explained, pausing to avoid blurting out the fact that Syaoran had magically enchanted it as well. Fujitaka took this as a sign of the growing seperation between them. She had even called him father rather than dad. It seemed too stiff and he wondered how close they would be once Sakura moved to Hong Kong permanently.

"From the amount of grumbling I hear from Touya, he must love you a lot," Fujitaka said, "not that anyone could ever not love you."

"Dad..." Sakura smiled at the off-hand compliment. "Thank you." Her father hugged her, glad that the initial discomfort of meeting eachother after a long abscence had finally started to fade.

"I missed you."

"I missed you as well, but I cannot wait to return." Sakura said.

"Would you deprive me of my last year with my daughter?" Fujitaka asked worriedly and gripped her arms gently as if she would turn and run back to the plane.

"I won't abandon you..." Sakura assured him with a sad smile, "The Li's have a private jet, so even when I do leave, I could come visit you once in a while." She was beginning to feel a little guilty that she had not called mire while she had lived with the Li's. As with Syaoran, Wei had acted almost fatherly to her and acted as the male role model of the Li home. Sakura gave her father a nother tight hug, waiting for several seconds before releasing him.

"I understand Touya stayed with the Li family."

"Unlike me, he doesn't get a Li-sized allowance, not that Syaoran ever let me spend it. He insisted on paying for everything. Touya has to pay for himself though. He has a few jobs to cover expenses, but even when getting cheap room and board at the Li mansion, costs of living are high and he doesn't want to jeopordize the arrangement since it was so affordable in comparison to everything else in the area. He decided this before he found out about Yukito-san decideing to return here with me, so I don't know if he's really going to stay there all year."

At this point, the aforementioned Yukito pushed through the crowd. He was carrying both his own and Sakura's suitcases.

"Good to see you again." Fujitaka said as he shook Yukito's hand warmly. Sakura was unsurprised by this greeting, Her father was well aware of Touya and Yukito's unconventional living arrangement and considered the man to be part of the family. Sakura wondered how her father would react if he knew Yukito's other secret, and by extension, her own. As the two men contnued their reintroduction, Sakura pulled out her cell phone and hir the first speed dial button.

"Hello." Syaoran answered the phone on the first ring. He had never really been into technology, but when Sakura had told him that they could use them to talk to eachother whenever they wanted, he had purchased them immediately. It had seemed at the time that his number had been magically distributed to every last member of the clan because they had immediately begun to call him, either to ask for future favours or to intervene with his mother on their behalf.

"I've missed you." Sakura said happily.

"Well, it's only been a few hours 'kura." Syaoran said. He was glad that it was her calling.

"Didn't you miss me?" Sakura asked, pouting, though the effect was mostly lost over the phone.

"Of course I did. It was like my heart was torn from my chest when I saw you get on that plane."

"Will you visit me?"

"Whenever I possibly can; I'd love to know what it's like to sleep in your bed." Sakura blushed at his words.

"Fine then, I'll take Touya's room while you're there."

"You are too cruel, Sakura."

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm at Tomoeda airport right now." Sakura said as she noticed that Yukito and her father were waiting for her.

"I'm glad you arrived safely," Syaoran told her. He suddenly groaned in pain.

"Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed, "Are you alright?"

"It's just my shoulder. I think I overworked it a bit. I have to get my medication," he replied, "Call me when you get home."

"I will, or else I'll worry about you."

"I love you, Sakura."

"Same to you," Sakura smiled, "I love you." The other end of the line disconnected. Sakura put her phone away and took her father's hand. "Let's go home."

* * *

After a week, almost hourly phone calls between Sakura and Li had dwindled to the point that he never called her, and he didn't even pick up half the time when she called him. Hd had even turned off his cell phone. She had also sent him letters, but he had only replied to the first. She had to admit that she was acting a little bit clingy, but she missed him, and he surely missed her just as much. How could he not?

After the second week, she was begining to get very worried about him. She had only been able to contact him twice. That didn't worry her as much as the fact that the emerald wolf on her engagement ring had become cloudy. It had been clear and bright before, and she knew that its change must have been an indication of something being wrong with Syaoran, or, even worse, a change in thee way he felt. When she had talked to him, he had seemed more irritable than usual, but had told her not to worry because he was fine. She couldn't believe him. One thing about developping her magical powers was that when she sensed things, and they were usually right. Syaoran was definitely in some sort of trouble. She could feel it.

Her father had also told her not to worry. He reminded her about how she had fought tooth and nail against the engagement before and now he was the only thing she thought about. She wished thast there was something that she could do that could take her mind off him until she got a chance to see him again.

Sakura sighed whistfully and rolled over on her bed. Her magical guardian, Kero, was in his false form and had been sleeping on the bed beside her. He now struggled to pull himself out from under his mistress. Sakura glanced at her alarm clock. It was almost six. She had never been an early riser before, but a year of waking up at four in the morning for training had ingrained the habit into her. Her father had joked about how she couldn't be Sakura, because Sakura never woke up in time for anything without help. Something about the lighted letters and numbers and numbers on the alarm clock disturbed her. It felt like she was forgetting something.

"July twelfth..." She mumbled. She stopped spacing out long enough to notice the struggling of the trapped guardian beast. She tugged his dtuffed animal-like body out from under her. "Gomenm Kero-chan." She apologized. The little guardian said something snarky in response, but Sakura wasn't paying attention so he huffed and made himself comfortable again.

Things had been so much more fun for Kero at the Li mansion. There, he could fly around freely and eat pudding whenever he wanted to, as long as he avoided the few residents that were not aware of magic. Here, he couldn't let himself be seen and only got to eat the food that Sakura snuck in to him, and it was rarely pudding. With Sakura acting all spaced out as she thought about Syaoran, it just made things more difficult for him.

"Three hundred and fourty two more days until Syaoran." It was such a long time. She had only known him for just under ten months. She sighed again. She couldn't even practice magic. Most magical spells were too destructive to try in the house, and she couldn't do them while her father was around. The Li clan was very big on keeping their magical abilities secret, and Sakura understood why.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your tru form before me. Your mistress Sakura commands you under the contract, release!" Nothing happened. Ever since she had captured all the cards and become their true mistress, she had not been able to unlock her wand. She could still channel magic through other things, but the cards were not working either. It was not that her magic was gone. On the contrary, her control of the Li clan's magic was better than it ever was, but it was no substitute for the Clow cards, which were one of the most powerful magicks in the world, having been created by the most powerful sorceror of his time and son of the founder of the Li clan, Clow Reed.

There was something still nagging her about the date. It had to do with Syaoran. The boy was hot. Every girl at the school had either been jealous of her and angry or had wanted to be her when they had found out about their engagement.

Because of the school they had attended, the majority of the students who were not on scholarship were rich and were used to getting everything that they wasnted. Rika, Chiharu and Naoko, her friends, had of course been happy for her, but Chiharu and Rika were already involved in serious relationships. Naoko tended to live her live vicariously through her friends, so she was happy to have someone else who could share their love experience with her. Other girls were always glaring at her whenrver she went near Syaoran. A couple of times, girls had 'accidentally' bumped into her at inopportune moments. Sakura forgave them, but none of the girls dared to try anything when Syaoran was near her, especially after a senior had disappeared for few weeks after flirting with her. Rumor had it that Syaoran had done something to him, but neither boy had ever said anything about any incidents.

Syaoran had always gotten high marks and was the star of the school soccer team. His personality was a little rough, but Sakura could tell just by looking into his beautiful amber eyes how he really felt. At least she could now. He had seemed like such a jerk at first, but once she had gotten to know him, he had been the most thoughtful boy she had ever known. Most people were never able to get close enough to realize this. He was strong and wise beyond his years... He would be turning seventeen tomorrow!

"Hoee!" Sakura leapt out of bed and began to dress furiously. She hadn't even thought of what she would get him for his birthday. How could she have forgotten something that was so important? She nearly ran into her father who was coming out of his room wearing a bath robe and looking extremely tired, though it brought a smile to his face to see her like this again.

"Are you in a hurry?" Fujitaka asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I need to get a present for Syaoran." Sakura exclaimed worriedly.

"Well, slow down. I don't want you to hurt youtself."

"But his birthday is tomorrow!" Sakura paniced.

"And the stores won't open for another few hours. Why don't you wait until I get dressed, then I can make your some pancakes. You can't shop on an empty stomach." Fujitaka said with an encouraging smile. He had missed Sakura's mad dashes to get ready in the morning. His statement seemed to have calmed Sakura down enough to think clearly.

"Arigatou, Otou-san." Sakura gave her father a hug.

* * *

Sakura waited anxiously for her father to get ready. He was not in a hurry because the university was in the middle of summer break as well, so he did not have to prepare for any lectures or classes or mark any work. Sakura usually loved this time of year when she could wake up late and spend so much time with her father. Now, however, her anxiousness over Syaoran's lack of communication, the fading of the ring and the limited time to find the perfect birthday present had all come together to replace her usual happiness with an overwhelming anxiety.

"What if he doesn't like my present?" she asked her father nervously as she set the table.

"He will love it, not for what the present is, but because it is from you. Just put your heart into it." Fujitaka encouraged her as he handed her a glass of orange juice.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Why don't you go check the mail. It should have arrived by now." He said as he poured some batter into a frying pan. This was more of a ploy to get her to stop worrying and pacing the kitchen than for any practicality having to do with the mail.

Sakura marched outside, brainstorming possible gift ideas. Perhaps a sword, or another form of weapon. He would certainly like it, and use it, but she couldn't get that. Nothing she could get would even compare to the training blades that the Li's owned. It would be like buying him a child's play thing. This was difficult. What do you get for the richest boy in China, and possibly the world? He could easily buy whatever he wanted and not even think of the cost. The present would have to have some sort of sentimental value. For a moment, she thought of sending him something like a pair of panties or a seductive, but not too revealing, picture. They did it all the time on television and in manga. He would surely love that because he loved her, but it was a sweet love, not some perveted lustful fantasy unlike the majority of his gender. She blushed even at the thought of doing something like that.

Sakura suddenly found herself flat on her face. She hadn't been paying enough attention to walking and had tripped over an oddly shaped package that had been left just outside the door.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Yukito was outside doing some yardwork. He had been staying in Touya's old room because they no longer had their Tomoeda apartment. Sakura's father had never asked Yukito for any form of rent, but Yukito felt it necessary to make himself useful. This meant that he not only did the yard work, but also a good share of the cleaning and cooking, as well as many other little jobs that he found to do. No matter how many times Sakura's father insisted that it was unnecessary, Yukito had continued to earn his keep in this way.

"I'm fine." Sakura replied as Yukito came over to her and helperd her up. "Thanks, Yukito." she was blushing even more, but now it was from the embarassment of tripping instead of from her wayward thoughts, which had led to her lack of attention in the first reminded her of when she was on the cheer team in grade school. She had often ended up catching batons with her face rather than her hands because of her tendancy to let her mind wander from the task at hand.

Yukito, like Kero, was the fale form of one of her guardians. Yukito had never talked about it and had always immediately transformed into Yue whenever she mentioned anything magical, which made her suspect that he did not even know of his own transformation. She picked up the package she had tripped over.

Yukito wasn't the only one who had recently held residence in Touya's room. Nakuru, the cousin of the exchange student who had replaced her when she had gone to Hong Kong, had stayed there after Touya had come to China after her. She could still remember the first letter she had recieved. Nakuru had not been the most careful of people and many of Touya's belongings were now only held together by a healthy portion of glue and tape. Eriol had been really apologetic about it in his letter.

Nakuru had been quite the pest to her brother. It had been one of the major factors in his decision to move to China. Nakuru had been obsessed with Touya, and that obsession, combined with her hyperactive attitude, had been unbearable for him, especially since a lot of that energy had been devoted to keeping Yukito away from him. To Sakura it seemed like a comical form of Karma since Touya had always done the same to her, though in a much more dour fashion.

"What is this?" Sakura asked as she examined the heavy parcel.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Yukito apologized, "A man delivered it not long ago. I left it by the door so that I would remember to bring it in when I was finished out here." The plain, brown, paper-wrapped package was only marred by the destination address and the postmark of the Hong Kong post office.

"It's from China!" Sakura said excitedly, "It's for... Dad." Her mood suddenly became dejected. She had hoped that it had come from Syaoran and would explain his silence.

"I just finished the work out here. Why don't we bring this in, then I'll help you find a present for Li before I go to work." Yukito suggested kindly.

"How did you know?" Sakura asked. She hadn't even told him about Syaoran's birthday yet.

"You've been depressed ever since we took off from the Hong Kong airport. This is only the second time I've seen you smile since then."

"Is it so easy to tell what I am thinking?"

"You also wrote it in your calendar. I saw it when I cleaned up your room yesterday." He teased with a kind smile that always made Sakura feel sweet.

"Thanks, Yukito!" Sakura said brightly as she gave him a big hug, "You are always so kind to me."

"Touya would kill me if I upset you." He took the parcel and gestured for Sakura to go ahead of him into the house.

"And he says I'm the monster." Sakura joked.

"It smells like it's time for breakfast." Yukito was drawn by the delicious smell.

Sakura and Yukito arrived in the dining room just as her father finished setting the food on the table.

"Dad!" Sakura attracted Fujitakas attention and Yukito handed the package to him.

"A package from China?" Fujitaka asked quizzically. "I wonder what it could be. I wasn't expecting anything." Fujitaka examined the package and found no indication of it's sender. "I wonder what it is." He removed the brown paper wrapping from the package. This revealed a beautifully carved wooden box. It was eleven inches long but only three inches tall and deep. On the left was carved the five toed imperial dragon. On the right was the royal phoenix. Set in the center was a seal written in impressive looking nine-fold script. Fujitaka couldn't help but stare in amazement at what sat before him.

"Do you know what this is?" Fujitaka asked Sakura as he ran his fingers over the dominant carving on the center of the box's cover. Sakura nodded her head affirmatively. "It's the imperial seal of the Emperor's hand. Such artifacts are rare, and even when found, they are rarely genuine."

"This is from the Emperor Yuan himself!" Sakura exclaimed.


	2. The Trip

**Chapter 2: Trip**

* * *

"Not exactly, Sakura," Fujitaka gently corrected her, "China is a socialist republic. There is a party-elected president, but no Emperor."

"Umm..." Sakura looked a little reluctant to contradict her father, "That's not really true... It's just that that is the story the emperor wants the people to know." Her father was a professor of history. Even though his specialty was Egyptology, he still had a good grasp of the rest of the world, or at least what was recorded of it.

"Sakura, Hu Jintao is the president of China. There hasn't been an emperor for almost one hundred years since Emperor Puyi abdicated in ninteen twelve."

"Hu Jintao is just a puppet. The real ruler of China is Emperor Yuan, second heir of the Yin Dynasty..." Sakura explained apologetically. She had learned the truth about China's politics from Li Yelan during the time that Syaoran spent in a coma. There was a delicate balance of power that she had to be aware of if she was to help him lead the Li clan. She had learned many secrets from Yelan and the Elders, many of which wereknown only to the most influential people in China.

"Sakura..." Fujitaka was now getting quite worried. He knew of the many human rights abuses and the lack of free speech that the Chinese people endured. If she said such things to the wrong ears in China, there was a good chance that she would disappear.

"It is the truth." Sakura said. "I met the emperor once, briefly, and I learned the true history from the Li's. Many people died to keep this secret until their control was total. Now only cities controlled by the Li clan have any freedom at all." Well, met was a bit of an exaggeration. She had seen him when he was meeting with Yelan. She had interrupted the meeding to tell Yelan that Syaoran had been abducted by a water witch. It was only later that she had learned the identities of the people who had been meeting.

"You shouldn't say things like that. If it's true, and the wrong people hear you, Sakura, you could get into serious trouble."

"It's true. You've only heard the party propaganda. It's really just the words of the emperor rewritten by political speech writer to sound as if it is in the people's best interest. It's a form of control to keep the people docile."

Yukito, paying no heed to the continueing of the discussion, began eating without Sakura and Fujitaka.

"Dad, do you know why photos of Tiananmen Square banned?" Sakura asked, and without pausing to give him a chance to answer, she said, "It wasn't because a peaceful protest was broken up by soldiers. Why send tanks against students? It's because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The emperor was moving through the square and the protesters got in the way so they were killed. That wasn't the first or last time that people have been killed to keep the existence of the emperor a secret. Not even the Americans and their conspiracy theorists can see it, even though it is as plain as day if you read the history." She was talking fast with rapid shallow breaths. Her frustration over the events of the past few days were beginning to seep to the suface.

"What about you? Sakura, these ideas are dangerous in a country like China. I don't wan't you to get hurt." Fujitaka said calmly, but with an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

"Not ideas, history. It's a history the Li clan knows well since they are so close to it. They are one of the few groups who are able to escape the Emperor's control. Their... influence is so vast that the Emperor does not dare to make a move against them."

"Someone must have been playing some sort of trick on you. How could something so significant be kept so secret, yet have the Li's know it so intimately?" Fujitaka rubbed his brow. What she was saying was plausible, but he couldn't think of Sakura, his happy, energetic, daughter being involved in a plot like that, even if she on; knew of it from an outsider's perspective.

"Dad... I am to be Li Sakura. Do you have any idea how much is expected of me, the least of which is knowing the true nature of China's politics. Being a part of such a large and powerful family is hard enough if you are on the fringes of their family, but I am marrying into the main bloodline to the heir of the clan. I can't afford not to know the truth." Sakura slumped tierdly into her chair with a sigh.

"Maybe I made a mistake... I shouldn't have gotten you involved with them. I just wanted you to be happy."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that. Things have been a little stressful lately, but it's too late for second thoughts. I would marry Syaoran now, no matter what anyone says." Sakura replied, smiling weakly at her father, "Now, the Emperor sent you a sealed letter. That means that it has been written in 'the Emperor's own hand.' So, let's see what he has to say." She had been hungry only a few minutes before, but now her appitie had vanished, so she pushed her plate over to Yukito who had already finished his on breakfast.

Fujitaka was concerned for his daughter. He had known that the Li's were rich and influential, but he had not had any idea of the shady dealings that went on behind closed doors. He didn't want anything to happen to his little girl, but he recognized that it was already too late to change his mind about the marriage contract. Sakura and Syaoran were the only ones who could end the relationship now. This realization really impressed on him how much Sakura had changed since she had left. While still essentially the Sakura her knew, she was much more aggressive and opinionated. He missed the little girl who relied on him to look after her. Since there was nothing he could do about the matter, he did the only thing he could.

Fujitaka opened the box, carefully undoing the latch that was hidden among the carvings. Tilting the top back, he revealed a long roll of rice paper sealed with wax that was imprinted with the same pattern that had been carved into the box.

The inside of the box was covered in red velvet that cushioned the fragile white roll that lay inside. He delicately lifted the paper and broke the seal. The paper that had seemed so thin and fragile was much tougher than it appeared. Fujitaka unrolled the tightly wound scroll to reveal an elegantly formed and perfectly uniform brush script.

"To the renowned Professor of Archaeology, Kinomoto Fujitaka," Fujitaka read, "I, the Emperor, offer you my personal invitation to partake in an historical opportunity. You are asked to come to China where you will work with a team of graduate students from around the world, including one of your choosing, for research on the treasures of the Forbidden City.

"Within the walls of the Forbidden City, you will explore the architecture, histories, and artifacts which you will catalogue. The results of this expedition will be used in a new museum of Chinese Imperial history that is being built in Hong Kong. Both the museum and the expedition will be funded by the Li Corporation of China which has graciously agreed to cover the expenses and provide lodgings and transportation.

"I am aware that your usual area of study is Egyptology, and that you are well regarded in that field, however, your participation in this expidition is absolutely essential to the success of this expidition for reasons that must be explained in person. Your presence has been demanded by the Li Corporation. I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you into my home.

"The Imperial Emperor of China." Fujitaka finished. No name was given to go along with the title of Emporer.

As Fujitaka finished reading the letter, a piece of paper fell out of the final roll.

"That's great!" Sakura was ecstatic at the news and all thoughts of the argument in which she had engaged with her father vanished. If her father was going to Hong Kong, she would certainly be going as well. That meant that she would not have to go without either her father or her fiancé this year.

"This letter seems to have come at an opportune time, but are you going to accept this request? It seems rather vague." Yukito said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"You _are_ going to accept, aren't you?" Sakura begged hopefully.

"Of course," Fujitaka replied, "This is a great opportunity." He wanted to go not only for the archaeological expedition, but also for the chance to get to know the Li's better. He also couldn't bear to see his daughter disappointed when she seemed so eager to go. "You wanted to get Syaoran a present, didn't you?"

"Yes, dad. It's his birthday, but I still don't know what to get for him."

"I think I may have an idea about that," Fujitaka said as he handed Sakura the piece of paper that had fallen out of the letter.

"Private terminal four at Tokyo airport. Ten o'clock on the twelfth for four people."

"The plane leaves tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" Sakura exclaimed happily as she rushed towards her room to begin packing.

"You stayed at the Li residence. What was your impression of them?" Fujitaka asked Yukito.

"I don't know. They weren't very open. I couldn't even guess what goes on in the compound. Sakura likes them, though. I trust her judgment."

* * *

Sakura hurried to get her bags packed. She could not decide what to bring. She had an entire wardrobe of clothes back at the Li compound, so she didn't need to pack those. She still had old school uniforms in the closet, but little that she would actually wear.

It didn't take her long to ralize that everything she needed was at Syaoran's home. This meant that the only things she needed to bring were the things that she kept with her for sentimental reasons. However, she was finding that even those were mostly related to Syaoran now.

She packed the Clow book of course. She always carried the cards themselves and an emergency supply of ofudas with her in a pouch that strapped to her leg. Tomoyo had made it for her before Laishi had died.

There were a few photographs that she wanted to bring. Some were of her mother. One was especially dear to her. It was a family portrait from before Nadeshiko had died. Some were of Touya, including one where he had played a princess in a school play. Sakura kept that one just to taunt him. He had not proven to be a very good actor at all. Many more were of the past year with Syaoran.

She also packed the books that Yelan and the elders had sent with her to furthur her clan training.

"Bring pudding," Kero demanded, "If I am going to be stuck in that bag all day tomorrow, there better at least be something good to eat."

* * *

Fujitaka's day was much more difficult and than Sakura's. First he had to visit the university. While there, he both informed them of his intention of taking the year off and asked for a list of students who had signed up for his course early so that he could inform them about the change and hopefully find one that would appreciate the opportunity to come with him. This process was made all the more difficult by the number of staff that was away for the summer break. He still hadn't even gotten around to considering packing.

"Amaaka Toryu... No," he muttered as he began to read the list of names. It wasn't because Amaaka was a bad student that Fujitaka crossed him off the list, but because Archaeology was only his minor. Amaaka was actually studying geology.

"Ari Tsunata... No..." Fujitaka said after pausing to consider the girl.

The process continued until he reached, "Furiya Kokoru. Perfect." The young man had not missed a single one of Fujitaka's lectures. He had seen the boy at every one of his public presentations, and even some of his private ones. He always paid attention, took notes, and asked intelligent questions. He was perfect for the task; after all, he was not only interested in archaeology, but was also a straight-A student, at least when it came to Fujitaka's class. He carefully went through the rest of of the list, to make sure he had not excluded anyone who would be better suited. However, by the end, he had found few that he would consider inviting, and none as promising as Furiya.

Furiya Kokoru only lived a few blocks from the university so Fujitaka decided to walk. He lived in an apartment in a rather rundown high rise building. Fujitaka walked up the stairs to the seventh floor. The building did not have an elevator. He knocked on the door of the apartment and soon the door was opened by a short woman. Her face was lined with worry and her long black hair was going grey. She was looking at Fujitaka skeptically.

"Who are you?" the woman asked rudely. Fujitaka had not had the time to call ahead. Considering the timeframe, it was better to just show up uninvited.

"Good afternoon, I am Kinomoto Fujitaka. I'm a professor at Tomoeda University. I would like to speak with Furiya Kokoru please." Fujitaka introduced himself politely.

"There's a guy here for you!" the woman yelled over her shoulder.

"Y-yes, Mother! I'll be r-right there," Kokoru stuttered. Furiya's mother sighed and returned to whatever task she had been doing, leaving Fujitaka standing by the half open door. An unseen chair scraped across the floor and a moment later Kokoru appeared.

"Furiya-kun." Fujitaka greeted his student respectfully.

"Professor Kinomoto!" the young man exclaimed excitedly, "What are you doing here?" He pushed back his greasy black hair from his face revealing a pair of spectacles that he pushed up the bridge of his nose.

"I noticed that you signed up for my class once again. I am glad you are continuing your studies."

"Of course. I would never miss your class," he replied confidently.

"I'm sorry," Fujitaka said apologetically, "I wanted to tell you that I will not be teaching a class this year." His lips twitched as he restrained himself from allowing his smile to become a smirk.

"Has something happened?" He asked. He looked utterly horrified at the prospect of a year without his favorite professor's class. "Is there something I can do?" his fingers were tapping nervously against his leg.

"Yes. Something happened." Fujitaka confirmed. "I received a letter today."

"What happened?" Furiya's eyes widened as he anticipated terrible news.

"It is not a question of what has happened, but what will happen," Fujitaka said seriously, "This year I will be applying some of the principles that I have taught and I would be honored if you would join me."

"P-professor?" Furiya asked, "What do you mean?" He was certain that he must have misunderstood.

"If you are ready to step out of the classroom and into the field, there is a plane leaving for China tomorrow. Will you join me to explore the Forbidden City in Beijing?"

"Of course!" He agreed eemphatically. He pushed his glasses up his nose once again. In the same movement, he plucked a pencil from behind his ear that had been hidden by a veil of hair and he began twirling it subconsciously through his fingers.

"Thank you." Furiya bowed, "I will not disappoint you."

"Then we shall pick you up tomorrow morning."

* * *

When the car pulled up to Kokoru's building, he was already waiting for them with a single suitcase in his hand.

"Good morning, Professor Kinomoto."

"Morning," A tired-looking Fujitaka replied. He had stayed up half the night finishing the temporary arrangements for the house. He still had things that would have to be done, but he would have to complete them by phone.

"Let me introduce you," Fujitaka said, "Furiya-kun, this is my daughter Sakura."

"Nice to meet you!" She waved. She was smiling happily in anticipation of seeing Syaoran and couldn't contain her energetic attitude.

"It is g-good to meet you." His eyes quickly appraised her, an act that went unnoticed by Sakura and her father, but not by Yukito who broke the line of sight to introduce himself.

"I am Tsukishiro Yukito," He held out his hand stiffly.

"Hmm." Furiya sized him up. He was looking almost jealous that the other boy was accompanying them. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Then, he shook Yukito's hand with equal stiffness, giving him a dark look. "You're joining Professor Kinomoto as well?"

"I am associated with Sakura's brother. He is already in Hong Kong." Yukito broke the handshake. He didn't like the feelings he got from touching Furiya. It made him feel dirty and he found himself wiping the defiled hand on his pants.

"I thought that the Forbidden City is in Beijing." Furiya addressed Fujitaka, his mood instantly shifting towards devotion.

"It is," Fujitaka affirmed as he took Furiya's luggage and placed it in the trunk of the car, "but the Li's, who commissioned the survey, reside in Hong Kong, as does the museum that is being built based on our research. I apologize that I haven't told you all the details, but I do not know the logistics myself yet, nor who the other students who will be on the team will be."

"There is nothing to apologize for," Kokoru said as he got into the car, "Do you know what the Li's interest is in the Forbidden City?"

"I don't believe they have any real interest in it," Fujitaka said. "Their son is Sakura's fiancé. It is likely that he arranged this entire thing so that he could spend more time with her."

"I thought this was a serious expedition." Furiya scowled.

"It is. Even if the motives behind it are not archaeological, we will uncover the city's secrets, if only for the benefit of our own knowledge."Fujitaka said determindly. He too had felt misgivings about the nature of the expedition, but had resolved to work through any deception and do his job properly.

"Syaoran is very attached to Sakura. He goes to great lengths to make her happy." Yukito added. His voice was cheerful, but carried the hint of a threat.

"An expedition like this will cost millions. Can he commission it just to see a girl?" Furiya was not satiated with doing his job well. If there was no point in the expedition, he would never get any recognition.

"Of course not." Sakura assured him in her usual cheerful tone, "If I hadn't accepted his proposal, maybe he could have, but since they already have me, getting me there for another year is not that valuable to them. Syaoran must have found some means by which this will be profitable for them," As she thought about Syaoran, she glanced at her ring. The wolf had gone from being cloudy to being almost black. She rubbed the stone apprehensively. She had a bad feeling about what she would find when they arrived in Hong Kong.

* * *

Sakura had not called Syaoran to tell him that she was coming. She wanted it to be a surprise, though she doubted it would be. Whether due to his own effort to set this up, or his mother's magical foresight, she expected him to be waiting at the airport for her.

"Wei!" She ran over to greet the butler who had acted like a father to Syaoran and herself while she had been there. He was the favored servant employed by the Li's.

"Welcome back, Sakura-sama," Wei greeted. Sakura smiled and gave him a big hug.

"Watch out or the monster will crush you to death," Touya said. He was repaid with a crushing foot stomp from Sakura that made him yelp in pain.

"Sakura is not a monster," Sakura answered him angrily.

"Only a monster can crush things underfoot like that," Touya responded. He dodged Sakura's retaliation.

"Just admit that you missed her," Yukito said as he arrived carrying both his and Sakura's luggage. Touya scowled and looked away, letting Sakura win as she usually did when Yukito defended her. Yukito smiled. Touya wasn't one to show his affection in public, but little cues in his interaction with Sakura told Yukito that he missed them both.

"Who's that?" Touya asked suspiciously. His eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar person.

"Furiya Kokoru. He's one of your father's students. You won't like him." He whispered the last part in Touya's ear so that Furiya would not overhear.

"Wei, where's Syaoran?" Sakura asked nervously. She did not see him anywhere.

"He wasn't able to come. He has not been well since you left," Wei told her gravely, "His injury has been troubling him."


	3. New Arrival

**Chapter 3: New Arrival**

* * *

Tomoyo was standing against the wall that surrounded her mansion. She was humming a new song that she had been working on. It was not like the songs she used to sing. Those songs had been so happy and lively. This one was harsher and dark. She had been in this state of mind ever since Laishi Lin had died. Laishi had been Tomoyo's bodyguard for most of her life. With her mother busy with the company, Tomoyo had grown to consider Laishi to have been more of a mother to her than Daidouji Sonomi had.

Tomoyo blamed Sakura for it. Sakura was her cousin, actually second cousin, and had been her best friend. She had been completely devoted to Sakura until Sakura's magic had taken Laishi Lin from her. Now, whenever she thought about anything to do with Sakura, especially her magic, she felt empty and angry. She hated it.

Tomoyo looked up and her long black tresses floated back to reveal her pale face and unusual amethyst colored eyes to the world. Those eyes glanced down the road, where an old house that had once been thought abandoned was being worked on. There were men painting it to bring it up to the community standard and a moving truck was unloading a bunch of antique furniture.

"Good day, Daidouji-san." She turned to see who had spoken. It was a boy with navy hair and eyes that seemed to see everything, though partially hidden by his spectacles.

"How did you know my name?" she asked the newcomer. She didn't know anything about him, but something was off. She didn't like it. Despite them living in Hong Kong, the boy had addressed her in Japanese. It was her native tongue, but there was no way he could have known that.

"I assumed you lived here," he answered, "And Daidouji is the name on the plaque by the gate." He paused and flashed a smile that looked to Tomoyo more like a mask to hide his true thoughts. "I am terribly sorry, I should have introduced myself. I am Hiiragizawa Eriol." He held out his hand.

"Daidouji Tomoyo," she replied. She ignored the offered hand. "You're like her, aren't you?" These words were said in a hostile tone, yet Eriol continued smiling.

"What makes you think I'm like her?" he asked. He did not even sound confused as to whom Tomoyo was talking about. His smile was daring her to expose him.

"The creature in your pocket; I've seen something like him before," she said, glancing at what appeared to be a stuffed animal. It resembled Keroberos, Sakura's own magical guardian.

"Really? Then I guess Spinel does not have to act so stiffly around you." Eriol's expression didn't change and the little black creature still sat stiffly unmoving like a stuffed animal. "Sorry but Spinel can be a little anti-social. Come on Suppi-say hello!" He withdrew the creature from his pocket and held it out. He was gently shaking it, much to the creature's obvious annoyance.

"My name is not Suppi. It's Spinel," the creature finally said irritably.

"But Suppi is so much cuter!" A teenage girl snatched the little winged black cat from Eriol and twirled him around. "My name is Nakuru," she greeted Tomoyo with a sudden hug.

"Let go of me," Tomoyo said. She angrily pushed the unfamiliar girl away.

"Fine!" Nakuru sulked, "You weren't very interesting anyway." She began to annoy Spinel once again as she walked off with him towards the mansion. After a dozen steps, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Tomoyo whille squeezing Spinnel's face into an equally rude expression. When she realized that Tomoyo was glaring at her, she stopped and began to run towards the mansion yelling something about sugar.

"She's going to cause lots of trouble," Eriol said, chuckling in amusement at Nakuru's antics and Spinnel's cries for help.

"Just stay away from me." Tomoyo rudely turned and walked away. "I don't want anything to do with you or your magic."

"And you're going to be lots of fun." Eriol said when Tomoyo was out of earshot. His eyes were narrowed deviously.

* * *

"This is where you will be conducting your research," Wei explained as they got out of the car at a two story building, "It has everything you need, including lab equipment. The second floor has been converted into dorms for the students."

Wei turned to Fujitaka, "If it is alright with you, a place at the main house has been prepared for you next to your family." He offered kindly. Kokoru looked disappointed by this arrangement and slouched with a sigh.

"Thank you, Wei-san." They had been conversing in japanese. While Sakura had become fairly proficient at Chinese while she had stayed in Hong Kong, Fujitaka's language skills were limited to Japanese, some broken English, and a surprisingly good proficiency with coptic egyptian which he had learned to help him in his archaeological studies. Luckily for him, this section of Hong Kong did a lot of business with the Japanese, so many people were fluent in the language. Those who weren't could at least speak some english.

"The other students will be arriving over the course of the week from top universities around the world. Invitations were sent to students that were hand picked by Li clan scouts at the universities of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kyoto, and other top educational institutions. You of course were given the chance to invite the candidate from Tomoeda University." Wei indicated Furiya with a nod of his head.

"You will be traveling to Beijing for one week initially, and then returning on alternate weekends using the Li Corporation's private jet. Your travel time will be a little over two and a half hours when you have good conditions. The details of the expedition will be left to you. Here is the key to the building. Each room also has a key in the door for whoever uses it."

* * *

Tomoyo sat in her room, looking out her window. She could see the new boy's house through her window and it filled her with a mixture of rage and sadness. Last year, she probably would have found the boy to be a good friend, but now, he was just a reminder of the pain she felt every day.

She closed the drapes. It was bad enough when Sakura had been there, but this boy... the expression on his face was as if he was taunting her. It was bad enough that he used magic, but his attitude infuriated her even more. It almost brought her to tears, like on the nights when she cried herself to sleep.

"Thinking of me, are you?" Eriol'ss voice said mockingly. Tomoyo whipped around and opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came from her lips. Her window and door were closed. There was no way for him to have gotten in without her noticing… At least no natural way. Now, he was standing right next to her. He was leaning on his golden staf an smiling a creepy smile.

"No need for that now. I'm not here to cause trouble... Oh wait, yes I am," He chuckled. Tomoyo scrambled away from him as quickly as she could. Eriol, taking this as an invitation, sat down on the bed next to her. He let his staff lean against his hand and spun it around playfully. "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you? Maybe I can do something to alleviate your hatred."

"You could leave me alone and give up magic forever." Tomoyo stood up angrily and walked towards the door. It wouldn't open. "Open the door!" She practically screamed at him. She didn't know how much she could take. She just wanted to be rid of him. He could have her room for all she cared; she just wanted to be alone.

"Why should I?" he asked as he joined her by the door.

"This is my house and I told you to leave!" she was screaming at him angrily now.

"I don't think that is a good enough reason," Eriol said. He advanced uncomfortably close to Tomoyo. She tried to slap him but he caught her hand. Eriol reached out and wiped a tear of frustration from where it had begun to slide down her cheek "However, if you promised to talk to me, civilly, at lunch, let us say a week from tomorrow, perhaps I might be convinced to let you go."

"Fine! I don't care… Just go," She said. Her body slumped limply against the door in defeat

"Excellent. I knew you would agree." His sinister tone assured Tomoyo that it was more than a figure of speech. He really had known what her answer would be. Eriol backed away. Any sinister intentions were once again hidden by his calm mask of a smile. "There is a nice cafe that I want to try. I am sure it will be an interesting time." He tapped the wall with his staff. A hole appeared for mere moments and he jumped through it without another word.

Tomoyo's heart beat fiercely. She was hyperventilating. There was something about this boy. It was as if he had no regret and, it felt to Tomoyo, as if he was even more powerful than Sakura. He scared her. It wasn't right that he was using his magic with impunity.

It was like he just didn't care who saw him, or perhaps he just didn't care if she saw him. Was he trying to impress her? That couldn't be. He had seen from the beginning what her feelings about magic were. There had to be another reason.

* * *

The facilities were not exactly state-of-the-art, but they were certainly more than adequate for Fujitaka's needs: magnification equipment; spectral, infrared and, x-ray scanners. There stacks of laptops at workstations which each held tools to clean and examine fragile artifacts.

"I hope that you have been provided with everything necessary. If there is anything else you need, some money has been set aside to purchase equipment or to send away samples for testing." Wei led them to a central table where there was a binder. "There is a copy of this information every dorm room as well as in a few other central locations and it has been loaded onto every computer for quick reference. It outlines the resources that the Li family has devoted to this project, the scope and purpose of the expedition, as well as some behavioral restrictions for this building and especially for your time within the Forbidden City."

Wei opened the binder and withdrew a pair of loose sheets. "Each member of the team will have to read and sign one of these contracts. It says that you will not mention the inhabitants of the Forbidden City, nor anything you learn of the past hundred years, nor will you write any information pertaining to it in any of your papers. One student is in the employ of Li Corp. That is to say that he is a member of the extended family, and he will be watching to ensure that all the rules are followed. If the rules are broken, the rule breaker will be sent home, or jailed, depending on the severity of the infraction."

Furiya took only a moment to scan the paper with his eyes before signing it without hesitation. Fujitaka was a slower reader and took longer to consider the clauses of the contract. He signed as well.

"Good," Wei said, "Might I suggest you explore the lab or begin reading the manual? I will take Sakura home in the meantime." He said and gestured for Sakura to follow him.

Furiya and Fuitaka both opted to study the expedition manual while Wei led Sakura away, but towards the back of the building.

"I thought that you were going to take me back to the mansion." Sakura glanced around.

"I told your father there would be a Li spy. He will need to go to the main house to address the elders without being noticed." Wei opened a door to a closet. "Come this way."

"Uhm..." Sakura looked nervously at the confined space within.

"Trust me." Wei encouraged as he squeezed into the back of the closet. He was backed up against the shelving, and Sakura still had trouble closing the door after squeezing up against him. The closet obviously was not meant for habitation, especially not for occupation by more than one person.

"A magic circle." Sakura said as she noticed it carved into the door. Sakura did not recognize the pattern, but some of it reminded her of the magic circles that adorned magical Li heirlooms. This meant that it probably descended from Li clan magic. Had she not been so accustomed to magic, or had the lab belonged to anyone else, Sakura would have been surprised to find the magical symbol, but now she was merely surprised at the odd and inconvenient location of the circle.

"I am afraid that you must activate it," Wei interrupted Sakura's examination of the circle. "I do not have the ability to do so."

"Okay." Sakura placed her hand on the symbol and focused her energy. The magical circle began to glow with a golden light.

"Now open the door." Wei commanded. Sakura complied, and instead of seeing the hallway from which they had just entered, she saw darkness and a doorway in the distance.

"This is the Li's method of magical transportation. It takes a lot of energy, but is much less draining compared to creating a portal. As I understand it, they create a permanent link between two doors, and then you travel between the two through a tunnel. It resembles the wormholes used in some science fiction shows."

Sakura's brow furrowed in evident confusion, so Wei tried to explain it more. "That is to say that it is not a direct link between two places, but it folds space so that the distance between them is shorter."

"Let's go!" Sakura said. She walked towards the other door, still not comprehending the exact mechanism that the magic used, but trusting that the Li's did.

* * *

Tomoyo looked at her rack of clothes. Nothing seemed right. She had some bright, colorful dresses, but those would give the impression that she wanted to go. She had considered just not showing up, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't going to work, not that she wouldn't try anyway. If Hiiragizawa caught up with her, she would have no choice but to go on his, as she suspected it was to him, date. But to her, it was just a means of getting rid of him. None of her clothes gave that impression; in fact, many of them were not even tailored to fit her.

She slammed the door of the closet. She would have the outfits burned later. She didn't even know why she had kept all those outfits this long, Sakura could go into battle naked for all she cared.. If she did not have an appropriate outfit, she would just have to make one; a week of lead time was plenty.

* * *

"Let me out!" Kero cried as he clawed unsuccessfully at the inside of the bag with his paws, "Why does everyone forget about me?"

Touya heard a strange scratching coming from the back of the car. He and Yukito had stayed behind to talk, which had been interrupted when Yukito noticed a cafe across the street that served some healthy portions of food.

"A good appetite is a sign of good health," He excused himself to go get some food. He had always eaten a lot, and could never resist when he saw good food, though he was always more than happy to share. Touya wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened. Yukito's other self had come out and fought with Sakura and the gaki. The boy, of course, had lost and his sister had won. They still had not gotten a chance to talk about it, and Yukito showed no signs of remembering the incident. He had dropped a few sublte hints, but Yukito didn't even seem to realize that he had another form.

Touya opened the trunk of the limousine and the sound stopped. The sound had come from Sakura's suitcase. He had not actually heard it coming from there specifically. He just knew, as he sometimes did when strange things happened. He reached for the bag.

Kero froze. He could feel the oppressive force of Touya's magical aura slowly reaching for him. Despite not having any knowledge or training, Touya's aura control was impressive. He was able to subdue others with just his glare if their magical aura's were no powerful, and it could still make them feel nervous. Kero did not want to be the one to try and explain everything to him. It was Sakura's responsibility, even if the opportunity had not yet come up. Kero stiffened and pretended to be a stuffed animal as Touya began opening the bag.

"Want some?" Yukito waved a bowl of dumplings under Touya's nose and he begrudgingly accepted them and closed the trunk. It did not latch properly, and Kero could see out a tiny crack. His belly rumbled hungrily as the delicious smell of the dumplings wafted in to him. He sweated nervously as he felt Touya's attention return to him for a moment. He couldn't have heard that could he?

Kero glaned around his tight enclosure. He had eaten all the snacks before they had even reached the airport in Tomoeda. Now he had nothing to satisfy his slowly began forcing the zipper open. He snuck to the crack and perred out, hoping to be given a chance to snatch a few of the dumplings away.

"Thanks," Touya said and began to eat, ignoring the feeling that a pair of beady little eyes were watching him. He made a show of enjoying them, both to show his appreciation to Yukito and to torture the stuffed animal that was sure to be watching. Yukito smiled happily and ate his own, much larger, portion.

"Touya-kun!" This voice had haunted his nightmares. He didn't have time to turn before he was tackled onto the car by Nakuru. "I missed you!" The dumplings spilled across the ground.

Kero screamed in pain as the trunk slammed down upon his paws, and in horrow as he heard the splat of the dumplings upon the ground.

"I didn't," Touya grumbled. Nakuru had a stuffed animal on her shoulder that reminded him strangely of the one Sakura had forgotten in the trunk of the car; the one he suspected was like Yukito.

* * *

Kokoru chose a room that was equidistant from the showers, the kitchen and the stairs to the lab. It was the perfect location. He claimed the key and attached it to a clip that hung from his belt loop. The room had a bed, a desk, and a chair, as well as an adjoining closet and a bathroom that was shared with the next room. Not exactly first class accommodations, but it was better than what he was used to. He sat at the desk and opened the binder, beginning to put his photographic memory to work. Fujitaka-sensei would see that he was the best in the class, or in this case, the world.

* * *

"It's been a long time since I've seen this place," Eriol said to Spinel. Eriol was sitting in a tall, throne-like chair in front of the fireplace.

"You could have at least kept the maids employed." The large butterfly-winged panther sneezed, sending a cloud of dust billowing out from the thickly woven rug.

"I guess nostalgia only applies to those who remember a place."Eriol said with a smile, but his voice betrayed a hint of lingering sadness.

"You only created us seven years ago. You've not been here for five hundred." Spinnel said irritably. He wrinkled his nose in an attempt to avoid sneezing again.

"Very well." Eriol tipped his staff and a wave of magic washed through the house. Once it had passed, the deep red of the carpet became apparent, where before it had been obscured by the layer of dust.

"Hey! You said _I _would get to do the cleaning!" Nakuru whined as she entered the room.

"Reading through my journal is not cleaning." Eriol grinned mischievously. "Besides, the dust was too much for Suppi's sensitive nose."

"Poor Suppi." Nakuru said with a mocking sadness as she fondled his furry cheeks, "How about I make you a cake!" She suggested energetically.

"You know I don't eat sweets," Spinel said grumpily, "Why waste the food? Our master provides all the energy we need."

Nakuru's eyes narrowed and she smirked. "Because it's fun."

* * *

The door led Sakura to an empty room that was only a few paces long and wide. She did not recognize it, but the style was definitely that of the Li's main complex. It appeared to be part of the Main house, but Sakura had not even seen all of that because it was so expansive.

"Just close the door and open it again. The stairs are on the left. I have to return for your brother." Wei informed her kindly.

"Thank you." Sakura told the butler before he left, closing the door behind him. When Sakura opened the door, she found a hallway rather than the passage she had come through. There were many doors, each marked with a number, and many hallways crisscrossing in a maze-like fashion. Sakura suspected that most of the buildings owned by the Li Corporation had been connected to this network. In the center of the floor were a stairwell and a simple wooden table which held an index book. She found that the book listed the destinations of each of the doors. Some had been scratched out, others listed places that Sakura was only barely surprised that the Li's had connections to.

"Interpol, United Nations, Pentagon, Forbidden City, White House, Louvre, Tokyo Train Station, Trans-Siberian Oil Pipeline..." She read aloud when she recognized a name.

"Miss Davidson's Daycare?" Sakura wondered why they would have a location like that linked to the Li house. She couldn't remember why, but it had been in the news at some point. It was not particularly important. It was just a small daycare business run out of a home somewhere in the United States. In any case, it didn't matter.

She could sense Syaoran above her and headed up several flights of stairs, only to be ambushed by Syaoran's hyper-active sisters.

"You're back!" Fanren exclaimed, giving Sakura a tight hug.

"We missed you," Feimei pinched Sakura's cheek.

"We're really glad you're back," Sheifa told her.

"Let's just hope you're not too late," Fuutie said dispassionately.

"Too late?" Sakura asked, her voice wavered slightly. All the fears and doubts she had been feeling began welling up inside of her again.

"For Syaoran. He's really messed up and won't listen to anyone. He's in his room right now, but you-" Fuutie continued. She looked away sadly.

Sakura wrenched herself from the girls' grasp and ran as fast as she could towards Syaoran's room.

"-should probably wait a little bit."


	4. Syaoran's Darkness

**Chapter 4: Syaoran's Darkness**

* * *

Sakura stopped outside his door, worried. She had heard what Wei and Syaoran's sisters had said. She knew what her heart felt and what she suspected the ring on her finger was telling her. Sakura was sure something was wrong. She had been in such a hurry to help, but she now paused as a sense of foreboding made her fear what she would find beyond the door.

"Everything will be alright," she told herself, "Syaoran..." she called out weakly as she knocked tentatively on his door. It was unlocked and not quite closed properly, so it swung open from her knock.

Syaoran lay alone on his bed. He was half-naked and yet covered in sweat. His skin was pale and sickly, and his body had lost even more muscle mass since he'd awoken from his coma, before Sakura had returned to Tomoeda.

Sakura approached him, worriedly calling his name again, "Syaoran..." He didn't even turn his head. His breathing was rapid and ragged. His body trembled, yet his bloodshot eyes stared unseeingly at the ceiling. His normally unruly hair was matted and a steady stream of drool trickled down his face and pooled upon the sheets...

"Syaoran!" Sakura said loudly as she shook him by the shoulders, hoping to get a reaction out of him. But she received no sign that he even knew she was there. It had been so hard the last time Syaoran had been like this. It had been nine and a half weeks of torture. Sakura soon saw the cause for his current state resting on the bedside table. A bottle of methadone pills was half empty and several pills were scattered across the surface of the table.

"He's been like this every day..." Fuutie said as she entered the room, "The first time, we called Doctor Ling, but he said there was nothing to do but wait it out. Syaoran's body has been able to metabolize the drugs faster than those of most people, but we have no idea what the effects will be if this continues. He takes enough pills to kill an ordinary person..."

"I won't let that happen." Sakura said weakly as she grasped Syaoran's hand desperately, "I won't let him die again!" She scooped up the pills and ran into the bathroom, crying.

"Wait, Sakura!" Fuutie tried to stop her, but was too late. The toilet flushed, sending the remaining pills spiraling into the sewers.

"I won't let it happen again. I'll make it better." Sakura's desperation had turned to determination.

"You shouldn't have done that..." Fuutie sighed, "He's not going to be happy about this when he wakes up."

"I don't care!" Sakura cried. "I won't let him keep doing this to himself. Why hasn't anyone taken them away before? Why didn't they do it the first time? Can't they see that he's in trouble?"

"Meiling did..." Fuutie's eyes glazed over as she remembered the event. She furrowed her brow and screwed her eyes shut as if it would block the events from her mind.

"Then why is he like this?" Sakura asked. Fuutie didn't answer for a moment. "Where is she?"

"She doesn't live in the main house anymore. Not after what he did to her," Fuutie blurted out.

"He hurt her?" Sakura gasped, shocked that Syaoran would do something like that to his best friend and cousin. Syaoran was no stranger to violence, but he'd always used it to defend himself and those he cared about.

* * *

_ Not even Yelan's powerful foresight had predicted this. One day, they had found him unconscious from an overdose of the methadone. Until that point, no one had realized that he had a problem. He had been doing so well before Sakura left. No one had even thought to even check how he was doing with his medication._

_ They had noticed the change that had come over him, but they had assumed that his rather grouchy demeanor had been a result of Sakura leaving rather than a sign of prescription drug abuse. They had assumed he was stronger than that._

_ They called the doctor to take a look at Syaoran, but there was little that he could do. The amount of drugs he had taken should have killed him, and the treatment would certainly do so if the drugs did not. There was no choice but to wait it out._

_ Meiling was given the task of taking care of him until he recovered. She hated seeing her cousin like this. Without Sakura for him to focus on, he had given in to the pain. Meiling could only watch and wait for him to wake up as he lay drugged into unconsciousness on his bed._

_ Meiling searched, and found the bottle of pills that he'd been taking. Like Sakura would later do, she disposed of the pills by dumping them into the toilet. Syaoran caught her flushing them away._

* * *

"She never did say exactly what Syaoran did to her, but... When we found her... She was lying in the tub in a pool of her own blood...She left the next day." Fuutie shuddered and looked toward the ground. The memory was obviously painful for her.

"He won't hurt me..." Sakura said, "He can't..." She didn't sound too sure of herself.

"Please be careful. You don't know what he's capable of... Excuse me." Fuutie left the room hurriedly and left Sakura alone with Syaoran.

* * *

Watching and waiting, Sakura sat by Syaoran's side. She whispered words that begged him to be alright, occasionally reaching out to delicately lay her fingers on him before flinching away from his cold and clammy skin. This continued for nearly an hour before he regained his senses. His hand immediately reached towards the table where his pills had previously been placed.

"Where are they?" Syaoran's voice was anxious. He grabbed Sakura's wrist. His grip was painfully tight. "I need my pills."

"Syaoran you're hurting me..." Sakura whimpered.

"Where are my pills?" Syaoran demanded as he tightened his grip

"They're gone," Sakura said fearfully as she looked into Syaoran's bloodshot eyes. She didn't see a trace of the feelings he'd shown her when she'd left.

"Give them to me now!" he ordered.

"Syaoran, stop it, you're hurting me." Tears were forming in the corners of Sakura's eyes. She wasn't sure whether it was from Syaoran's painful grip, or from her inability to find the love that she knew was hidden within him.

"Only because you're hurting me. I need them, so just tell me what you did with the goddamned pills." He leapt to his feet and slammed her violently against the wall. She cried out in pain.

"You're just hurting yourself, so I got rid of them." Sakura said meekly. Syaoran slapped her stingingly. Sakura bit her lip and held back the cry of pain.

"Where are my pills?" he demanded. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and his teeth were bared threateningly.

"They're gone, and if you get more, I'll get rid of those too until you don't want them anymore," Sakura yelled through tears. Anger flared in his eyes and he drew back his fist. Sakura tensed and waited to be struck. She closed her eyes in anticipation and fear.

Instead of being struck, there was a loud thud beside her head and the weight of Syaoran's body leaned heavily against her. She opened her eyes and caught him before he fell.

"I'm glad Fuutie called me," Meiling said grimly. She was dressed in a waitress outfit and had a fading bruise on her cheek and some cuts on her face. "I wanted to do that all week." She cracked her knuckles in satisfaction and glared at the unconscious body. Then, she helped Sakura to lay Syaoran on his bed.

"Thanks," Sakura said, "He isn't himself." The words seemed hollow. Sakura clenched her fists and blinked heavily. She was afraid that she would start sobbing uselessly.

"I found that out the hard way, "Meiling said, sounding angrier than usual, "You don't deserve what he would have done to you. I should have known that the first thing you'd do when you got here was take those stupid pills away." Meiling shook her fist angrily. "I kind of wish that he didn't go down so easily. I'd love to get another shot at him."

"Meiling..." Sakura had only ever seen desire in Meiling's eyes when she looked at Syaoran. Now she could only see the desire for revenge. "What did he do to you?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter what he did," Meiling huffed, "let's just make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else." Meling crossed her arms and looked disdainfully at Syaoran.

A few minutes later, Syaoran's arms and legs had been bound to the four corners of his bed. It was probably not the most comfortable position for Syaoran, but they couldn't risk him getting free in his current state. It went without saying that if he was willing to hit Sakura in order to get his pills, anyone else who got in the way would have their lives endangered.

"Meiling, please tell me everything that happened. I want to help him." Sakura looked sorrowfully down on Syaoran.

"Fuutie told me that she told you what happened." Meiling replied. Her hurried speech told Sakura that she was trying to hide something.

"She told me, but I know it couldn't have been the whole story. You must know more. I need to help him," Sakura begged.

"It all started right after you left," Meiling finally replied, "but no one else saw it. I didn't think anything of it at first..." She sat on the edge of the soft green chair as she talked tensely.

* * *

_ "I'm worried about Syaoran," Meiling said, "He's been so different since Sakura left. I haven't even gotten a chance to really talk to him."_

_ "I've seen it too, though it is not my place to say." Wei responded. The weariness in his tone revealed that he desperately wanted to do something._

_ "You know what's wrong with him?" Meiling, being so close to Syaoran, had assumed that she had been the only one to notice._

_ "He was not taking his pills very often when Sakura was here, and now the bottle is half empty. The pain must be getting worse." Wei told her._

_ "I doubt it's the pain in his shoulder that he is trying to get rid of." Meiling laughed nervously._

* * *

"You think it was because of me?" Sakura asked, "Is it my fault he's like this?" Her hands were clenched fearfully in front of her.

"The only person at fault here is Syaoran," Meiling replied firmly, "Two days later..."

* * *

_ Syaoran called Dr. Ling who immediately came to serve the Li household's medical needs._

_ "How are you feeling?" Dr. Ling asked clinically._

_ "The pain is getting worse," Syaoran told him, "I used up all my pills."_

_ "Your prescription was supposed to last another week," Dr. Ling said with concern, "I should order some tests."_

_ "I just need more pills to manage the pain," Syaoran replied steadily, masking any pain he felt behind an emotionless gaze._

_ "If it gets any worse, call me. I wouldn't want anything to happen to your arm." He scribbled some notes on a pad of paper and then reluctantly scribbled a new methadone prescription for Syaoran with a slightly higher dosage. Syaoran thanked the doctor when he received it._

* * *

"I wasn't really worried yet. He'd just used his prescription a little early and needed a refill, but two days later, he called Dr. Ling again." The sadness and pain that permeated her voice deepened. Sakura listened nervously, sitting still as if even a heavy breath would interrupt Meiling's telling of the events.

* * *

_ "Has the pain gotten worse?" Dr. Ling asked._

_ "I need more pills." Syaoran ignored the question and gazed soullessly at the doctor._

_ "But the prescription I gave you-"_

_ "Just give me more!" Syaoran cut off Dr. Ling's question angrily. Syaoran's glare was weakened and unfocused, but the haunted look he had was just as unnerving._

_ "I can't do that... I won't prescribe anymore opiates in your current state." he said calmly, trying not to aggravate Syaoran more than necessary._

_ "Just give them to me, or else!" Syaoran's voice hissed. He accentuated the dangling threat by grabbing the Doctor's collar, forcing him to look Syaoran in the eyes. The drug dilated pupils had shrunk to mere pinpricks of darkness that cut through the Doctor's resolve._

* * *

Even though Sakura had seen Syaoran's current state, she was having trouble believing that he would act like that. She knew him to be a protector, not a bully.

"Syaoran managed to force the doctor to write another prescription. Each one was supposed to last a month. That's when I really began to worry."

* * *

_ "You have to stop this," Meiling told him, "Don't you know what you're doing to yourself?"_

_ "I'm making the pain go away," Syaoran replied dismissively. He also sounded irritated. Meiling got the impression that he wanted her to leave him alone, but that only angered her more._

_ "You're going to kill yourself. I don't care how strong you think you are, even you have limits." Meiling told him forcefully._

_ "It's not that bad. Just leave me alone." Syaoran said. He obviously didn't care what he was doing to himself, and there was nothing Meiling could do about it._

* * *

"It seemed so obvious to me, but I guess no one else really paid attention. After a week of this, he even stopped taking your calls. The letters you sent just sat unopened on his desk. I couldn't believe that no one else could see what he was doing."

Sakura realized that it must have been at the same time the ring had started to fade. The drugs had completely taken over his life to her exclusion. To know that the pills had taken over her place in his life hurt her, but she wasn't angry; she pitied him.

"When he collapsed, the clan finally took notice of his condition. Yelan called Dr. Ling. She wasn't happy."

* * *

_ "I'm not surprised that this has happened," Dr. Ling's eyelid's sagged with weariness. His voice had no hint of fear that he would lose his position. The situation he was in had been so stressful and had forced him to compromise his values so much that he was more worried about losing his medical license than his current job. There was no point in begging. "I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. After he forced all those prescriptions out of me in such a short time, I was sure that he would kill himself."_

_ "Will he be alright?" The malice in her voice was only thinly disguised by the worry. Her glare bore ineffectively into the doctor who had already realized that he had made the wrong choice._

_ "He's handling it remarkably well, but even his body could not handle chemically-induced withdrawal right now. For now, we can only wait for him to recover on his own."_

* * *

"That's when Yelan-sama asked you to look after him?" Sakura said. She had already heard this part of the story. It still felt so unreal, even though he was confirming the whole thing with his current state.

"Yes," Meiling confirmed, "I tried to make him comfortable. But nothing I did seemed to matter. I couldn't stand seeing him like that. A Li does not lay there drooling on his pillow. A Li is strong. A Li fights for control of himself. A Li doesn't let himself be controlled by a damn drug!" Meiling slammed her fist on the bedside table. A lamp was nearly bounced right off the table by the force of her blow. Meiling went silent for a few moments and took some deep breaths to calm herself before continuing the story.

* * *

_ Meiling wiped Syaoran's brow with a cool, damp cloth to remove the sweat. He looked so helpless and weak that Meiling could barely believe it was still him._

_ "This can't go on," Meiling began searching his room. "Sorry," Meiling said when she found the pills in a drawer, "This is for your own good."_

_ Meiling marched into the bathroom and tilted the bottle over the toilet. She watched with satisfaction as the small capsules dropped into the porcelain appliance._

_ The bathroom door smashed into the tile of the wall as Syaoran burst angrily into the room. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Syaoran demanded._

_ "What I should have done a long time ago," Meiling replied defiantly. She flushed the toilet and the pills disappeared down the drain._

_ "Fucking bitch!" Meiling had never even considered that Syaoran might hit her and the blow took her by surprise. The punch knocked her down and she fell into the bath tub. The blow stunned her. Before she could move, Syaoran was on top her with his good arm pressing painfully down on her neck._

* * *

"It all happened too fast. I couldn't stop him. He told me how much pain he was in and that he needed the pills. I was left bleeding in the bath tub while he went off to get more pills to satisfy his cravings." Her face was blank and her tone monotonous as she told this part of the story.

"Meiling..." Sakura felt like Meiling wasn't saying everything. The memories of the ordeal must have been too painful for her. Sakura wanted to hold her future cousin-in-law and to cry with her. She knew that was the only way to help Meiling sort out the feelings she had about the attack. Instead, she placed her hand on Meiling's in a show of support and willed her to continue the story to the end. "It must have been terrible for you."

"I couldn't stay here anymore. I was afraid of what would happen..."

Sakura could feel Meiling's hand trembling, so she squeezed in reassuringly.

"He's not at his best right now. He's slow, his wits are dulled and his magic is pitifully weak. I could stop him, but I would have to hurt him... Badly," Meiling said, "I couldn't stay here anymore, so I got an apartment a few blocks from here. I also got a job at a cafe downtown. I'm not exactly a high priority for the clan anymore." She almost made the last sentence into a joke, but ended up sounding pitiful.

"You mean that your allowance has been cut off?" Sakura gasped. She couldn't believe that they would do that to her. She was practically a member of the main branch of the family.

"I've got a bit saved up and a job. Don't worry about me," Meiling forced a smile in an attempt to alleviate any concerns Sakura might have.

"You know that if you need anything... anything at all..." Sakura gently squeezed her hand again.

"I told you that I'm fine... It's Syaoran you have to worry about. He's not going to like this when he wakes up." Meiling warned. She stood up, appearing to have regained an air of confident superiority.

"I'll make sure he's alright. If... When he returns to normal, he'll forgive me."


	5. New Faces

**Chapter 5: New Faces**

* * *

She couldn't believe that Captain Black had not noticed. Jade smiled to herself as she stepped off the plane at the Hong Kong airport. She needed something to keep her entertained. The Dark Hand and Shendu had all but disappeared and there was no sign that there were any new bad guys to take care of... not that they ever let her take care of them, or that their not letting her ever stopped her from doing anything.

Now, Jade was finally on her own. No Jackie, no Uncle, and no Captain Black to tell her what she could and couldn't do. She had a pocket full of mischief as well. Black would never even realize that they were missing from the vault. After all, she had been trained by Viper herself, the best former-thief in the world, not to mention her extensive experience Jade had from breaking in and out of Section Thirteen's vault.

The situation almost made her feel good about majoring in archaeology. It hadn't been her idea. She wasn't interested in archaeology at all. She wanted to be a government agent in Section Thirteen like Jackie was. He wasn't actually an agent, more of a consultant, but he still went on dangerous top secret missions.

There were some interesting things that you ran into as an archaeologist. It was not the mundane pottery or ancient huts that intrigued her, it was the mysterious. She loved fighting demons and using magical artifacts. Jackie ran into these things constantly, and that's what had piqued her interest in archaeology. That and the fact that, by studying the artifacts, she learned how to use them much more quickly. She doubted any of those interesting things would happen on this trip, but it still felt good to be out on her own.

Jade's cell phone rang. She flipped it open quickly in hopes that her long-time boyfriend Paco was the one calling. She wondered if he was trying again. He had wanted to say something to her for a few days before she left, but had never gotten up enough courage to spit it out. He had been having a little trouble in the courage department since she had won his luchadore mask when after beating him in a wrestling match. She glanced at the caller ID and sighed.

"Uncle waited for five rings! Why Jade take so long to pick up?" Uncle's high pitched voice annoyed Jade. She had just gotten out on her own and he was already checking up on her.

"Uncle, I'm in the middle of the airport. Can't you wait until I find my bags at least?" She asked wearily as she scanned the lines of luggage.

"No! And one more thing," Uncle told her, "My chi tells me you are in danger."

"I'm fine, Uncle; your chi thinks I'm in danger whenever I'm not eating half a ton of garlic and mung beans every day." She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. She had never taken to mung beans like Uncle had. She had never even met anyone who agreed with his mung bean obsession.

"Uncle will send Jackie to help fight evil." Uncle declared definitively.

"I'm fine, Uncle, I can take care of myself. You taught me everything you know."

"One more thing," He replied loudly, "Uncle taught you all he remembers, not all he knows."

"I'll do okay. Don't worry." Jade hung up the phone before Uncle could try something silly like casing a spell over the phone. She pressed a speed dial button to call Jackie just in case.

"Hello, Jade," Jackie answered happily. "How are you doing? Did your plane land yet?"

"I'm fine. I'm just looking for my luggage now. I just wanted to make sure you don't let Uncle ship you over here. After all, how am I supposed to 'learn responsibility' if I always have you, or Uncle, or Toru, or Viper babysitting me?" She flipped the phone closed before Jackie could answer and dropped the phone into the pocket of her hoodie.

That's when she spotted it. Her luggage was just rounding the corner of the conveyor belt and there was a straight path to it. She reached into her pocket and grasped a stone talisman. In the blink of an eye she had run to the location of the luggage, only to run into a teenage girl who was reaching for the bag next to hers. Both girls were knocked to the ground by the impact. The bags traveled past them on the conveyor belt and out of reach.

"Sorry!" Jade apologized, hastily grabbing the rabbit talisman that she had dropped in the collision and returning it to its resting place in her pocket.

"No, it's my fault," The girl replied. She had darkly tanned skin. Her hair was waist-length and almost unnaturally straight. She wore a white silk dress and simple gold jewelry. Her eyes were a dark reddish brown with flecks of grey and their gaze was piercing and unnerving. "My name is Rusaki Akila." Her Chinese was perfect.

"I'm Jade. Jade Chan," She replied. Jade's Chinese was much more disjointed and had a western accent, despite her asiatic features.

"American?" Akila asked.

"I lived with my parents in China when I was young, but I have lived in America with my uncle for the past ten years," Jade replied.

"I'm sorry..." Akila said, apologetic for bringing up what she thought were painful memories.

"No..." Jade said, realizing that she'd given the girl the wrong idea, "My parents are fine, they just thought I needed an environment that encouraged more discipline." Jade laughed.

"So, are you here visiting your parents then?" Akila said with a relieved smile on her face.

"No, they don't live in Hong Kong. I'm actually here as an archaeology student. One day I'm sitting there being bored out of my skull, the next I get a letter from the Li Corporation telling me that I've been selected to take part in some expedition that they're financing." Jade casually explained her presence in the country.

"Really? I didn't think that the Li Corporation had anything to do with archaeology." One eyebrow arched as if she had learned something extremely interesting.

"Well, I don't know where they got the idea, but when they offer to pay off your tuition, you don't say no. So where are you from?" Jade glanced at the luggage conveyor. They bags had not returned yet.

"My family comes from Egypt. My father owns a large company and we are conducting a lot of business here, so he has lived here for a while now. He was grooming my brother to take over the business, but there was an accident last year and so now I am the next in line." She said rather smugly.

"Oh... Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm not all broken up over it. We were never really close."

There was a period of awkward silence.

"Oh, the bags are coming around again," Jade grabbed hers, "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise," Akila said, "It is always nice to meet people of interest." Despite Akila's friendly tone, Jade felt uncomfortable when she said this.

* * *

Alex had packed light and had avoided the need to claim any luggage. He felt a little nervous. Like his father before him, he liked to be armed in case he ran into any trouble.

Admittedly, he was not half bad at hand-to-hand combat, but he still liked to have his Smith and Wesson sitting on his hip, or even a nice scimitar. If he really got into a jam, he could always use the Manacle of Osiris, which was permanently attached to his wrist, but he had learned long ago that messing with magical objects usually brought trouble.

"My lucky day," he said to himself. There was a taxi with no fares waiting. He ran toward the vehicle. He was not the only one to notice it, and he found himself facing off against a beautiful Asian girl for the vehicle.

"Back off, I got here first!" The girl told him.

"I don't think you did," Alex replied. He liked this girl. She had spunk, and she had thankfully addressed him in fluent English. "Why don't we share?" He offered gallantly.

"Big city. No way you are going-" Jade began to contradict him.

"To the dorm of the Li Archaeology Expedition?"

"How did you know?" Jade asked, amazed at his deduction.

"You don't look it, but you act as foreign as I am. You're about my age. And you have something in your pocket that seems to be attracted to my manacle." He pointed confidently towards the bulge in her pocket.

"It's nothing!" Jade clamped her hands over the offending talismans. They were gently pulling towards the boy.

"Too late. Now that I know it's there, there's no point in hiding it," he pointed out, "Let me help you with that bag." He discreetly ran his hand over hers before grabbing the handle of the suitcase. When he tried to take it, it didn't budge.

"FYI, I have a boyfriend, and I haven't seen him lose to anyone but me in a fight." Jade mocked.

"And just who might that be?" Alex's asked as he exerted himself in a futile effort to take the luggage for her.

"Paco del Toro, or just Paco when he is not busy being the luchadore wrestling champion." She grinned proudly.

"Champion? I think I could take him." He said off-handedly. He wasn't getting anywhere. This girl was strong. She had a hand in her pocket and must have been using whatever was in that pocket to increase her strength.

"You're not even stronger than me. How do you expect to beat him?" Jade flaunted.

"Well, if my life had taught me nothing else, it's that you must use magic to defeat magic." He muttered some words under his breath and Jade found her fingers to be losing their hold on her luggage.

"How are you doing that?" Jade asked. Whatever the power was, she wanted to try it too. "And where did you get that saying?" Uncle had always said the exact same thing whenever they had tried to defeat the supernatural with pure athleticism.

"I learned it from a Chi master who was guarding a scroll about the magical Manacle of Osiris which currently resides on my wrist. You?" He finally managed to pry the luggage from her hand and tossed it into the trunk of the cab.

"Magic talismans stolen from a demon lord named Shendu who is currently trapped in a statue. Can I try the manacle?" She asked in an excessively sweet tone as Alex tossed his own luggage into the vehicle.

"Sorry, but it can only be used by people with the right bloodline. And also, it's permanently attached to my wrist." He opened the door for her.

"I could try getting that off for you later if you want," Jade offered hopefully.

"No thanks. Better on me, than on someone who's going to abuse its power." He said. His tone allowed for no further argument. Jade entered the tab.

"You're right, there always seems to be bad guys after these." Jade witdrew the talismans so Alex could see them, "Good thing no one else knows I have them. By the way, my name is Jade Chan."

"Alex O'Connell," he replied.

* * *

The limousine pulled up to the front of the main house of the Li complex.

"I'll take Tsukishiro-san's luggage to your room." Wei offered.

"Thanks," Yukito said, "but I'll take it myself. I don't want to trouble you."

"No trouble at all. It's what I'm paid for, and on top of that, I enjoy my work." Wei insisted.

"If you are sure... Touya?" Yukito glanced at Touya to get his opinion on the matter.

"I'll be back in a minute." Touya's eyes carried a far-off look that Yukito had come to identify as Touya's sixth sense.

"Is it Sakura?" Yukito asked.

"I'll meet you in the room in a few minutes," Touya said with concern as he headed off up the stairs and towards Syaoran's room.

* * *

Touya could feel that something was wrong. Yukito always teased him about his sister complex, but she was his little sister, and he would not allow her to come to any harm. Every time his sister was in danger he could feel it.

He trusted that she could take care of herself. In fact, he was sure of it. She had been trained in hand-to-hand combat for a year and was very good at it. He had also seen her use extraordinary abilities. Her magic had defeated a fifty-foot worm of rock, and immediately after, she had even managed to defeat Yue. He had no illusions about her being weak, but it was still his responsibility to protect her.

As he got closer, he could hear the Syaoran's muffled screaming and he started to run.

"Give me the damn pills you stupid bitch!" Syaoran yelled ferociously.

Touya kicked open the door expecting to find Syaoran man-handling Sakura, his fists rready to knock the boy's lights out. But found that instead of attacking Sakura, the brat was well restrained with one limb tied to each of the bed posts so that he could not untie himself.

"Don't you dare talk to my sister like that," Touya said menacingly, "Because you are her fiancé, I am forced to let some of the things you do pass, but no one is allowed to insult her but me. You understand that?"

"Brother... Wait. He's not himself," Sakura begged. Touya did not touch Syaoran, but he remained in a fighting stance with his fists clenched.

"I don't care what's making him do this. Just let him up so I can knock him back down." Touya glared at Syaoran, who ignored him completely.

"It's not his fault..." Sakura said quietly as she glanced timidly at the floor, "It's the drugs. They were supposed to help him... but..." Sakura looked touya in the eye and announced determindly, "I'm going to make him alright again."

"Failing that, the joy of kicking his sorry ass belongs to me." Meiling growled.

"Please, Sakura... It hurts too much. I need them." Syaoran pleaded as he tried to free himself from his restraints.

"Besides, the drugs are doing a good enough job of killing him; they don't need your help." Sakura sighed.

"Is there anything you can do?" Touya asked, alluding to the magical powers which she still hid from him.

"There's nothing else I can do. He's already got the best care I can give him." Sakura answered desperately.

"Then I'll call the doctor. The sooner he gets better the sooner I can kill him." Touya said seriously.

Touya walked stiffly towards his room. It took every ounce of his strength not to run back and kill the stupid brat. Had he stayed any longer... He could barely believe what he had seen. Syaoran was completely different now.

He had avoided Syaoran since Sakura left because of how he felt about the engagement. In those few weeks, he had gone from being completely devoted to her to treating her like dirt.

Sakura had tried so hard to make him believe that everything was fine. He knew it was a lie. Sakura was broken up inside because of what was happening. She had not told him everything, but he could piece together what had happened. It was hard enough on her as it was. Touya swore that he wouldn't let it continue. If Syaoran didn't get better, there would be no groom at his sister's wedding.

Touya was not at all surprised when Dr. Ling passed him in the hallway. He didn't question it, and even half expected it. He knew that some things that routinely happened in the Li house were inexplicable by conventional means. They usually tried to hide it from him, but he could tell. He suspected Yelan had known before anyone else and had conveniently called the doctor at the time when he would be most beneficial. She had a knack for knowing what was needed before anyone else did.

Yukito was already in the room unpacking. He stopped when Touya entered looking obviously frustrated.

"Is everything-"

"I should have seen it!" Touya shouted suddenly, "But I thought she was safe while she was in Tomoeda."

"What happened?" Yukito asked. He didn't bother asking about Sakura. If anything had happened to her, Touya would not have returned.

"He tried to hurt her and I wasn't there to protect her," Touya said, remembering the restraints Syaoran had been bound with.

Yukito placed his hand comfortingly on Touya's shoulder. "She's not injured."

"But-" Touya protested.

"There are some things that you can't protect her from..." Yukito let his head rest gently against Touya's, "When that happens, the best you can do is to try and understand how she feels and be strong for her."

"I know," Touya sighed, turning away.

"Tell me what happened." Yukito ordered softly.

Touya wondered if Yukito was asking because he really wanted to know, or because his other half wanted to know. After Sakura had defeated Yue, he had submitted to her and became her guardian. Touya didn't mind this. Yukito was the one boy that he could trust around his sister, but since the incident, Yukito had shown no recollection of what had happened. Either way, he was glad that Yukito was sharing in his burden of protecting his sister.

"I don't know the whole story," Touya admitted. He now wished that he had waited to hear the whole thing. "But I know enough. The brat got addicted to the pain killers. Sakura got rid of them. He attacked Sakura, but Meiling stopped him."

"Is he going to be alright?" Yukito questioned seriously.

"Unfortunately, he'll probably survive," Touya grumbled, "the doctor's there now."

"Then everything's alright for now. There is nothing we can do and nothing more you could have done, so there's no point worrying about what you can't control, is there?" he gently forced Touya down onto the bed, "You rest and calm down. I'll unpack, then we'll go see what the doctor what the doctor has to say about him."

Touya allowed Yukito's gentle touch to relax him. After all, Yukito was right. Nothing could be done, and Sakura was safe for now. Maybe if he was lucky, Sakura would see how right he was to have gotten in the way.

* * *

"Let me go!" Syaoran screamed as he thrashed about.

"Please, Syaoran," Sakura was straddling his abdomen and pressing down on him to stop him from struggling, "We're just trying to help. Don't do this."

"You're trying to help me are you? Since when did the definition of help become 'painful torture'?" Syaoran accused, "Just give me the pills. It's the only thing that helps." He begged desperately.

"But they're not helping. They're making everything worse." Sakura cried, putting even more force into her attempts to restrain him.

"Is there... anything else?" Dr. Ling asked. He wanted a blood sample, but Syaoran was being uncooperative. He knew that the Li family had unconventional ways of doing things and was well paid for his discretion.

"No... I wish I could... There's nothing I can do." Sakura wished that she could use the Clow Cards. The Sleep would have solved this problem so easily.

"I could shut him up." Meiling suggested, towering over Syaoran and cracking her knuckles.

"No!" Sakura placed her own torso between Meiling and Syaoran, "I don't want him hurting anymore. He can't do this forever." Sakura whimpered.

Syaoran gasped and stiffened as a needle was jammed into his leg, tearing his muscle as he struggled.

"That would have been painless if you had cooperated," the doctor told Syaoran worriedly, "Meiling hold his arm. The sedative I gave him probably won't last long." He was not sure how much sedative had actually made it into him, or how much had actually made it into his bloodstream. He had not wanted to use a sedative to calm Syaoran in case there were any adverse reactions, but he had not been given a choice. It was the only way he could conduct the tests he needed to do.

Sakura's eyes glanced at her ring. The wolf stone now looked as if it were made of onyx rather than emerald. She wondered how Syaoran felt about her. She was the only thing that stood between him and what he so desperately wanted. She had no idea of what he was going through his mind because of what she had done. He said he was in pain, but how much of it was because she had forced the end of the drugs?

"Syaoran... How do you feel about me now?" Sakura asked timidly, staring at his chest rather than looking him in the eye.

"That's a stupid question," he said. Sakura looked at him hopefully. "You've taken everything from me. I hate you!" he responded venomously while looking her in the eye. Sakura suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Sakura, he didn't mean it," Meiling tried to assure her.

Sakura shook her head. It couldn't be true. Had the drugs really replaced her in his heart? The feeling of abandonment was stifling. How could he have said it? She needed Syaoran and now it seemed as if he'd lost every ounce of what they'd shared.

She gripped him tighter. Maybe they had never shared it. Maybe it had all been a ruse. Maybe he had never loved her and it had all been about the Clow Cards. A tear dropped from her cheek and landed on Syaoran's.

"Watch where you're crying! I don't need your tears falling into my eyes," Syaoran struggled more, "Let me go!"

"I promised," Sakura whispered, "You're trapped in the darkness again... That means I have to show you again. I have to be your light." She was trembling as she leaned forward.

"What the hell are you-" He was cut off as Sakura's lips pressed against his. He stopped struggling, instead suddenly becoming rigid. Slowly, his body relaxed and he began to respond to Sakura's kiss.

"When you're alone in the dark, I am your light," Sakura whispered, "No matter what." She laid her head on his chest and continued to hold him, but this time not to keep him still. She had missed him so much, even though they had been apart for such a short time.

Even though he was sweaty, and trembling, and confused, he was still Syaoran. He had the same scent that comforted her. She wished that she could untie his arms so that he could wrap them around her again. She missed the sense of safety they gave her.

Sakura didn't even notice when Meiling quietly ushered the doctor, who had managed to get the blood sample, out of the room. Instead her eyes were focused on the tiny flecks of green that shone through the darkness in the ring as she listened to Syaoran's rapid heartbeat. The whole experience had just been exhausting so she lay there listening as her eyes drifted shut. Before she fell asleep, she heard him mutter something that sounded a lot like an apology. She knew that the next days would not be easy, but she also knew that in the end, everything would be alright.


	6. New Rivals

**Chapter 06: New Rivals**

* * *

Sakura awoke to a frenzied jostling. She opened her eyes to see Syaoran struggling under her to escape his bonds. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked tiredly.

"Bathroom," he responded anxiously. Sakura had no choice but to release him. She knew it was dangerous to let him loose in his current state, but there were no other options unless she wanted him to lay in a pile of his own waste until he recovered.

As soon as Syaoran could move, he rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door. After a minute, Sakura heard the toilet flush and then the water began to run. A few minutes later, she realized that it was taking Syaoran much too long to finish washing his hands.

"Syaoran?"

He didn't answer.

She banged on the door - there was no response from him. She knew then that she had made a mistake letting him loose. Sakura removed the key that hung around her neck and hoped that at least this one bit of Clow magic would still work for her.

The key, though obviously the wrong size and shape, slid easily into the keyhole. When the key was turned, the door unlocked. Sakura pushed the door open to find Syaoran sitting against the wall in a catatonic state. A cluster of pills were clasped in his hand. She took the drugs from him and then dragged him back to his bed and retied his limbs. Then she dumped the confiscated pills into the toilet. They were flushed like the bottle of methadone from the previous night.

Sakura couldn't stop the tears from flowing out as she blamed herself for what had just happened. She had fallen for a stupid trick.

Sakura sat in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest, on the cold hard tiles. There were probably more backups in place. She should have known that he would have backup pills. She knew how messed up Syaoran was. After Meiling had flushed them, he would have surely created backup stashes.

Sakura began searching. It wasn't long before they began turning up. A small bottle had been taped under the lid of the toilet reservoir. One pill had been stuck into the cap of the toothpaste. Another bottle was hidden in the light fixture. Several packages were wrapped in the spare linens. Sakura could not believe the collection she was amassing, just from the bathroom. There was no way that she could do this on her own.

Sakura dumped the pills and went to find Wei to see if the servants could help in the search. Before she reached him, she realized that it was a futile attempt. What if he had hidden some with magic? Even if they found all the hidden pills in the enormous mansion, he could always force someone to give him more, steal them, or resort to acquiring unsafe illegal drugs to satiate his addiction.

She felt completely helpless. It wasn't like she could be with him every second of every day... Or maybe she could...

Sakura found Wei and asked his opinion on her plan. He agreed that it was the best solution and said that he would arrange everything for her.

"Your father remained at the lab last night." Wei informed her, knowing that she needed to get away and relieve some of her stress, "I am sure he would appreciate it if you cleaned yourself up and went to visit him. I'll have everything ready when you return."

* * *

It took almost no time at all for her to get to the facility thanks to the traveling magic. She just went down the stairs and used the book to find the correct door. A minute later, she was halfway across the city, coming out of the janitorial supply cupboard.

"What are you doing here?" An older boy had been coming from the other end of the hall and had seen her exit the closet. He was a tall and muscular Caucasian boy. He had reddish-blond hair and blue eyes.

Sakura couldn't help but notice the powerful magical aura that resonated from the golden manacle attached to his wrist, even though it felt as if he had no magic of his own at all. It took her a moment to process what he had said, since he was speaking in English. While she had learned the language as was required in school, her skills were not of the highest caliber.

"What you doing here?" Sakura asked innocently. She already knew the answer, but the response made it appear as if she belonged in the building and he didn't. The fact that he has such a powerful artifact made her nervous, especially since she didn't know him.

The boy seemed rather taken aback by her response and Sakura was wishing that it hadn't been such a lame one. They stood looking at each other for a moment. When he moved, she sidestepped into a more advantageous position. She now got a good look at the manacle around his wrist and recognized the Egyptian symbols on it. She wondered if the Rusaki family had sent him here for some reason. She secretly palmed a lightning ofuda just in case the guy tried to cause any trouble.

"You shouldn't be here." The boy said and reached out to grab Sakura's arm. She slammed the ofuda onto the manacle and channeled her energy into it. Both were sent flying by the resulting discharge.

Sakura struggled to her feet. Her hand throbbed painfully from the shock that the boy had somehow diverted back to her, or at least partly anyway. She didn't know who the boy was, but his magic was very powerful. Her ofuda now lay in ashes while his manacle still appeared to be in perfect shape.

"I stop what you planning," Sakura said as she faced off against the mystery guy who had also returned to his feet. She withdrew another ofuda. This time she did not bother trying to hide it.

"What the bloody-"

"Imperial king of lightning, strike!" Sakura chanted in her native tongue and shot a bolt of lightning towards him. He raised his manacle and somehow dispersed the electric attack.

"How did you-" He didn't have time to finish his question before he found himself blocking a flurry of strikes from Sakura's fists. Before he knew it, he was on the floor with Sakura holding an ofuda to his throat.

"Why you here?" Sakura demanded.

"I was invited here to participate in an archaeological expedition," he replied as he somehow made Sakura fly off him and hover in the air. He peeled off the paper ofuda that was stuck to his throat, "My name is Alex O'Connell."

After a few moment's pause he said, "I believe it's customary to give your name when someone introduces himself."

"Kinomoto Sakura," Alex's face blanched at the name. Sakura smirked. He knew who he she was now. "In three hundred sixty four days, I am Li Sakura." She added flippantly. This did not make Alex any less nervous. She suddenly felt very guilty for saying it. She hadn't wanted to rub her power in his face. Wei had sent her here to calm down and relax, instead she was getting into meaningless fights and acting like a bitch.

"Are you perhaps related to Professor Kinomoto?" Alex prayed that she wasn't.

"My father," She replied much more civilly as she was set gently on the ground. She smiled nervously, hoping to ease the tension a bit.

"I guess we got off to a bad start," He laughed nervously as he held out his hand to help her up.

"You not with Rusaki or Shiza Corporation?" she asked. She ignored the offered hand and refused to let her guard down until she was sure of his intentions. The bewildered look on his face told her that he had not even heard of the aforementioned entities.

"Who are-" He began to ask.

"Forget this. It not matter." Sakura smiled genuinely as she deflected his question. No damage had been done to the building, so if this Alex kept his mouth shut her father would not hear about this incident, and more importantly, neither would Yelan or the elders. Alex could not agree more with this sentiment. He smiled and silently agreed not to say anything about their first encounter.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Sakura straightened the folds in her skirt and Alex traced his finger along the engravings of his manacle until the silence was interrupted by another girl.

"Alex, what's taking so long?" The girl called down the hall. This girl made Sakura feel even more nervous than Alex did. She had a powerful magical aura as well as several items with magical auras hidden on her person. She had shoulder length black hair with slightly longer bangs that framed her face. She wore an orange hoodie and blue jeans. She walked towards them and said in a surprisingly friendly manner, "You're Professor Kinomoto's daughter aren't you? My name's Jade."

"You know her?" Alex was surprised. She had arrived at the same time as he had so there was no way that she had met Sakura earlier.

"No, but he mentioned that his daughter had come and she's obviously not one of us," Jade pointed out, "she's obviously Japanese too, duh." Jade gestured at Sakura's face.

Alex didn't see it. She looked the same as everyone else in the country to him.

"You're here to see him aren't you?" Jade asked. Sakura nodded. "He's in the main room at the end of the hall. He's just introducing everyone. Which is where this slacker should be."

"Thanks, Jade" Sakura said, hiding her unease.

* * *

"Now, you have heard about me. Now we will hear about each of you," Fujitaka told the assembled students. His English, while better than Sakura's thanks to his lectures he had given in the language, was still slightly lacking, but it was the only language that all the students could understand to any extent.

"Furiya Kokoru," Kokoru stated. "Towa University. Number one in Kinomoto-hakase's class." Kokoru stated proudly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He smirked proudly at his mastery of the English language and the opportunity to rub his connection with Professor Kinomoto in the faces of all the other students.

"Je suis Evalese Merdeaux. I come from France, and I like things that are sweet," the girl who was sitting next to Kokoru said. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes and skin so smooth that it looked as if she had never been touched. Her clothes were very revealing and she used her Parisian accent seductively.

"Benjamin Velsen," the next boy said as he tried to avoid looking at the woman next to him who was subtly trying to make him do the opposite. Benjamin was slightly scrawny with short brown hair and brown eyes. He dressed much more conservatively than Evalese and was refusing to look anyone in the eye.

At this point Sakura, Jade and Alex entered the room. Jade and Alex walked to the front and sat in the seats that had been unoccupied. Sakura hung out at the back of the room while the introductions continued. With a quick glance, Sakura realized that every person in the room had some sort of magical aura attached to them. For some of them it was just a latent magical ability that was strong enough to be used but was never practiced; others carried items that were magically imbued, and a rare few had powerful auras of practiced magic users. The boy who had just introduced himself seemed to be the only one with no talent for magic whatsoever, nor any magical implements.

Once again, Sakura realized that she had missed something obvious. It should have been obvious to her that one of the leading factors for choosing the students would be their magical ability. Even untapped magical ability like Touya's could lead someone to notice what others would not. Someone who trained their abilities... they could be useful in other areas if the clan could persuade them.

The Li clan had managed to make this into more than an archaeological research expedition. It was now also a recruitment exercise. That explained why there was a Li hidden among the students to evaluate them. She wondered what other motivations the clan had, and why she hadn't seen it earlier.

Twice in one day, she had made major blunders that could have cost the clan a great deal. She began to wonder if she was even fit to become a member of the clan and whether the clan's spy would be evaluating her and her father as well. She felt determined to figure out who the spy was.

"Li Fei. Hong Kong University," The next girl said. She had long black hair and dressed in more formal attire than the other students. Sakura became instantly suspicious of the girl. She wondered if this girl was he spy sent to watch over the students. The name certainly fit, but it was too obvious.

"Jade Chan. Everything else is classified." The girl she had met in the hall said. She was also a possibility. She had known who Sakura was after all, and her magical abilities were not to be taken lightly. Jade gave the group a big smile and a thumbs up before sitting back down in her chair.

"Yosef Meir from Israel. I hope to one day uncover one of the lost cities that are mentioned in the Torah and learn more of my people's past." He was very Jewish. He wore clothes of white linen and had ringlets in the corners of his bushy brown beard.

"Johannes Hauberk of Germany. My father vas a banker. I did not vant to be one, zo 'ere I am." Other than his wire-rimmed spectacles, this boy was dressed and acted casually. He had short cropped blond hair and blue eyes. His expensive looking suit contrasted his slouched posture.

"Sara Wood from America," the next girl said, "People used to live in harmony with the environment, and I want to show the world that we can do it again." She had frizzy brown hair, green eyes, and wore earth-toned clothes made of hemp. A silver pentacle hung on a chain around her neck. Her magical aura was weak, but radiated the control of a practiced magic user.

"Alex O'Connell. I'm from England, but spent most of my life traveling the world with my parents." He didn't even bother standing up to introduce himself.

"You are Rick and Evelyn's boy?" Fujitaka asked pleasantly. Furiya glanced jealously at Alex.

"You know my parents?" Alex asked. He had heard of Fujitaka Kinomoto before. His work had been used in several of his Egyptology courses. He had never known that his parents had met the man.

"I have not seen them since the dig in Egypt six years ago, but I did meet them. You were smaller then." Fujitaka smiled. He looked at the next person, "Sorry for interrupting, please introduce yourself."

"Alexi Novosi. Russia," the next boy said. He had pale blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and was built like a mountain. He was sweating heavily in the warm temperature, as he was obviously not used to it.

Several more people introduced themselves: Garson Eloise from Canada; Kai Fan, Long Teng, and Si Quan from China; and Bruce Rieve, the kilt-wearing red head from Scotland.

"Ye better not be askin' if I be wearin' a dress," Bruce challenged the group after his introduction, "Tis a kilt; get used to it." A few people snickered, but no one said anything.

"Sakura, come introduce yourself." Fujitaka called to Sakura. She flushed in embarrassment as everyone turned to look at her. She walked to the front of the room and stood next to her father.

"I am Kinomoto Sakura," she said nervously, "Fujitaka Kinomoto is my father. Li Syaoran is to be my husband." Sakura did not feel comfortable saying more in the unfamiliar language.

Si, Long, Kai and Li all bowed their heads in respective acknowledgment; Merdeaux, however, glared resentfully at her.

Fujitaka began to outline the details to the students. "Our expedition is to the Forbidden City in Beijing. No foreigner has been allowed to enter this walled complex in many years. We will be given full access to every artifact stored in the Forbidden City and will be allowed to examine the details of every room.

"There are strict rules that must be followed, and everyone must sign the agreement that is in the front of the binder in your room. If you do not agree to follow the rules, you will not be allowed to enter the Forbidden City.

"Every second weekend, we will fly to Beijing and explore. Over the course of the year, we will examine every artifact and every piece of artwork from the tiles on the floors to the imperial seal itself. All the artifacts will be photographed and catalogued. Artifacts of significant interest will be brought here for further study.

"For now, just sign the form and make sure that you have read the contents of the binders. Until our first visit to the Forbidden City, which will last a week so that we can plan the course of the rest of the year, you are free to get to know each other and explore Hong Kong."

The students began to disperse.

"Is everything well? I thought that you would be spending time with Syaoran," Fujitaka questioned Sakura. He had reverted to speaking Japanese.

"You didn't come home last night, so I thought I'd come visit you." Sakura replied, attempting to avoid the topic of Syaoran.

"Home..." This struck Fujitaka. She already considered the Li mansion to be home, more so than the house in Tomoeda which she had not called home once while she had been there. "I guess your heart has found where it belongs," Fujitaka said.

"I guess," Sakura replied, less than enthusiastically. She was unsure about what he had meant with his question.

"There is something wrong." Fujitaka asked. Sakura seemed awfully quiet and evasive. It was quite unlike her usually energetic attitude.

"It doesn't matter. I know everything will be alright," Sakura replied with a forced smile.

Fujitaka placed his hand on his daughter's arm. "If there's anything I can do to help..."

"It's just that Syaoran is having trouble with his medication, but I will help him. I will make sure that he gets back to normal." She glanced around the lab, avoiding her father's gaze.

Fujitaka did not like the sound of what she'd said. "What kind of problem?" He asked worriedly. Sakura had told him about the medication he had been taking when they had still been in Japan. Methadone was an opiate. He didn't want Sakura to be endangered by being involved with a drug addict.

"It's nothing." Sakura lied, "How are things going here?" she asked. She didn't want to stay on the topic of Syaoran's condition. She knew that her father was beginning to have doubts about her involvement with the Li's and did not want to further increase them.

"All the students are excellent. The records that were given to me show that they are all top students. I am hoping that they will work well together." Fujitaka replied, noting his daughter's discomfort and change of subject. He promised himself that he would return that evening for dinner to meet the boy himself.

A sudden crash turned everyone's attention to the end of the room where Alex O'Connell now stood looking shocked. A shattered glass and the juice it had contained now lay splattered across the tiled floor.

"It wasn't me," He exclaimed, despite the fact that there was no one else near him. Fujitaka went over to make sure everything was alright. Sakura felt a powerful magic presence appear next to her. She turned to see Jade standing there innocently. Her hands were resting in the pocket of her hoodie.

"What are you looking at?" Jade asked defensively.

"Nothing." Sakura turned her attention to where Alex was now cleaning up the mess with some paper towel. "It wrong he should clean mess another made," Sakura said to herself, making sure that it was loud enough for Jade to overhear.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Jade asked aggressively.

"You no could do it," Sakura replied slyly in her broken English, "unless walking invisible across room."

Sakura walked over to where Alex was. "You want help?" She asked.

"It's okay. I probably deserved it," Alex replied as he wrapped the last of the glass in some paper towel and dropped it into the garbage can.

"I will go then. I hope next time is not so exciting. Maybe even no invisible person listening." She smiled as she walked towards the hall, purposefully stepping on an invisible foot and eliciting a muffled yelp.

She walked down the hallway and exited through the side door, pausing before reentering and going straight to the closet that would return her to the Li mansion.

She wondered about the Jade girl. She had extremely powerful magic. Sakura could not even sense her while she was invisible. If Jade hadn't stepped into the liquid from the glass, Sakura would have never known that she had been listening.

Alex concerned her less. He didn't have much, if any, magic of his own, even if his manacle was really powerful. If you overlooked the origin of his magic, there was nothing at all sinister about him. The others seemed relatively safe to various degrees. Only the French one had shown signs of aggression, but her magical abilities were so repressed that she would probably never discover them.

* * *

Now, back at the mansion, Sakura's thoughts once again turned towards her fiancé. She had been gone for just over an hour, but she was already worried about his wellbeing. Each step she took towards his room made her even more nervous. It felt like a knot was twisting in her stomach. She could remember when she would have given anything to be in his presence again, now she dreaded seeing him in his degraded state. It was not that she didn't love him anymore, if anything she was even more devoted to him. She wanted to make him return to his former self, and was willing to do whatever it took to fix him.

Servants were everywhere. They usually didn't scurry about so openly. They were making a show of cleaning every nook and cranny of the house, but they were obviously checking for things that had been hidden. The closer she got to Syaoran's room, the more servants were searching. They could not be expected to search the entire complex in a single day, and some areas would have to be searched by servants hired from within the family.

"Found one!" A woman pulled a small plastic bag out of the soil of a potted plant. The bag was stuffed with pills. A man carrying a garbage bag came up to the woman and she tossed the pill bag into it.

Sakura entered Syaoran's room. He was still tied helplessly to the bed. Sitting on the dresser was a box from a local sexual entertainment store which just happened to sell the type of item Sakura needed. Syaoran, while awake, looked a little hazy and distant as he watched her open the box. She could have almost sworn that he was on the verge of a nosebleed because of the perverted thoughts that were obvious from the tenting of his sheets and redness of his face. Sakura suspected that he was wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Since we can't trust you to kick your habit on your own, Syaoran-kun, I had Wei pick something up that will help break it." The manner in which she said this did nothing to hinder his currently perverse thoughts. He wore a smug grin and was drooling slightly.

"We're going to get to know each other really well," Sakura teased, "especially since I don't have the key." She whipped out a handcuff from the box and attached it to Syaoran's wrist. She fastened the second cuff to her own wrist. A three foot chain was all the leeway he was allowed.


	7. New Enemies

**CH07: New Enemies**

* * *

Syaoran was an emotional mess. Over the course of the day he had many mood swings. He was worse than a pregnant woman - completely unpredictable. At first, he seemed to enjoy the situation. He acted caring and affectionate, kissing Sakura and tenderly running his hand over her skin as he held her in his arms It didn't last long. One moment he was kissing her, the next he was slowly withdrawing as if in a daze. Suddenly, he pulled away with a guilty look on his face. He refused to touch her, or even look at her.

Sakura wasn't yet ready to get too physical with him, but his withdrawal from her shocked her and hurt her. Syaoran had already voiced his desire to wait until the wedding night to have sex, but short of that, he had been insatiable. Last year he had not wanted to leave her side for a second. Sakura took his hand and squeezed it gently to tell him that everything was okay. He pulled his hand away without returning the gesture.

Next he became angry, demanding more pills. Sakura was ready this time. She refused his demand more sharply than she had intended because her heart still stung from the earlier rejection. When Syaoran tried to punch her, she tilted her head to the side. His punch missed her and hit the wall. She then rammed her head forward into his. It gave her a splitting headache, but he was down for the count. Had he been in peak form, it never would have happened. His fighting skills usually far outclassed her own, even if she was quickly catching up. She resumed the position in which she had woken up. Like this, she could feel whether he moved or tried to escape.

Despite having her arms wrapped around Syaoran, Sakura felt alone. She wondered why he had turned away when he had been kissing her. He had kissed her then rejected her. It was both confusing and painful. Sakura felt empty inside. She had hope, but it seemed to be such a distant prospect. She didn't know if she could keep herself together long enough for him to recover. Every whimper of pain made her want to run out and get him the medication that he begged for, but she knew that she couldn't do it. She could only remain vigilant so that one day he would completely return to who he used to be.

When he woke up, he returned to his sulky mood. His movements woke Sakura and she could see that he was obviously much sicker than before. He stunk horribly. It was not the pleasant musky smell he had when he worked out, but a fetid and sickly stench. Sakura could not stand the way he smelled now. His normal smell comforted her, but this only reminded her of how sick he had become. Sakura rolled off of him and took a deep breath of the room's stale air. The alarm clock showed it to be early afternoon. It had only been a short nap.

"We need to get cleaned up," Sakura said to herself. Her father would surely be home that night. She wanted him to make as good of an impression as possible. There was no way that Syaoran would have recovered from the withdrawal by that time, so the only choice was to let her father meet him in his current condition and try to pass it off as some sort of reaction rather than withdrawal. She briefly considered not showing up to dinner at all, but that would only make her father more concerned about her wellbeing. Her father knew her too well to fall for any trick - she had never been good at lying anyway.

That left the truth as the only option. Sakura wondered what would be harder: telling her father about this, or telling him about the other secrets she had been hiding about herself. What would he think if he found out the truth about her, the Li Clan and the Clow Cards. That reminded her of Touya. She still hadn't spoken with him about what he had witnessed the day she had fought the final battle with Yue.

Sakura banished the worried thoughts from her head and looked around. She noticed that a fresh set of clothes had been piled neatly on the chair next to the bed. She could only assume that Wei had anticipated the need while she had been asleep. It would not be proper to show up to dinner in clothes smelling of Syaoran's stale sweat. Sakura, after a quick check to see that Syaoran was still sleeping, began to change. The skirt was easy enough, but the shirt ended up bunched around the cuffs that connected her to Syaoran.

"Hoee!" Sakura scrambled to cover her undergarments when she noticed that Syaoran's eyes were half open. The smirk on his face told her that he was obviously enjoying her dilemma.

"Instead of just watching, you could think of a way to help." Sakura said petulantly.

Syaoran studied the problem intently for a few moments, and then he tore the shirt in two. Now it was easily removed.

"Syaoran!" Sakura cried out in shock because of his rash action.

"It worked," He said listlessly. He turned his head away, showing none of the interest he had displayed in her lack of clothing.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura was concerned about the way he was acting. It wasn't like him at all.

"You need a different shirt," he said. He was right. While the clothes that had been left for her were appropriate for dinner, they had not taken into account the problem of their arms' being attached together. There were very few styles of top that would.

"You can wear a towel for now and then we'll see if there is anything in your room," he suggested.

"Yes." Sakura agreed. She knew what he was planning. She had already removed the pills that had been stashed in the folds of one of the towels.

But going to her room was probably the best option anyway. Last year, Tomoyo had made her many outfits in a wide variety of styles. Most of them had been costumes for capturing cards, but she had created others, from swimsuits to the clothes Sakura and Syaoran had worn on their first official date. If nothing could be found there, then there was not much chance that she would be able to find anything. She didn't want to have to explain to her father why she was both handcuffed to Syaoran and missing her shirt. One might assume that they had been interrupted during some sort of kinky activities. It would be much to embarrassing to have her father think that about her.

Syaoran led her into the washroom to the linen closet. "Let me get it." Syaoran said and pulled a towel from the closet. He discreetly ran his fingers through the fold. He gained a panicked look when he didn't find anything. He tossed the towel at her and grabbed the next one and then the one after that, continuing until there was a large pile of towels on the floor. Before he could consider getting violent, Sakura wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.

"They're not here," she told him apologetically, "I got rid of all of them." He was trembling, or shivering. Sakura couldn't tell. It might have been due to anger, or withdrawal, or embarrassment, or maybe he was just cold. He was no more dressed than she was. Finding something for him to wear would be even more difficult than finding clothes for her, but she could only deal with one problem at a time.

"Come. Take a bath, and then we'll find something to wear." Sakura said. Syaoran slouched in defeat. She pushed him towards the tub and started the water running. She intently watched the water in an attempt to hide the blush that was creeping its way up her cheeks as she realized that she and Syaoran would be forced to bath together until the situation was resolved. Sakura turned off the water as it reached the overflow drain.

"Syaoran..." She was too embarrassed and couldn't find the words to ask him to disrobe. He didn't respond either. She looked at him and saw that he was staring at the bath. He looked like he was going to be sick. His eyes were wide, as if he feared the sight before him. When she reached out and touched his arm, he flinched, almost as if the touch had burned him. His mind was obviously occupied elsewhere. He didn't resist, nor react in the slightest as she timidly removed the little he was wearing and forced him into the steaming water.

He remained in this state for several minutes and Sakura washed him. She couldn't be sure because of the moisture, but it seemed to her that he was crying.

"I'm sorry," Syaoran said. It was just loud enough for Sakura to hear as she was scrubbing his back. He crabbed the soap and began mechanically scrubbing himself, allowing Sakura to turn away and spare them both from further humiliation.

Sakura wondered if his apology had been meant for her, or for Meiling. She did not dare to ask; he was too fragile right now.

* * *

As Sakura had expected, finding clothes had not been easy. Syaoran had no shirts that could be worn properly. He ended up wearing a pair of dark green slacks and a matching sweater with his left arm tucked under so it appeared as if he only had one arm. In her own wardrobe, Sakura had found a matching set of sleeveless silk tops that fastened with ties down the sides. One was pink with white along the seams and the other was the opposite. Each had a sash of the opposite color to go with it. Sakura chose the pink one. The elegance of the design told Sakura that it was surely one that Tomoyo had created.

Syaoran made a point of looking away uncomfortably while she changed into it along with a pair of matching silk pants. The sash wrapped around her waist several time from her hips to just under her chest where, with a little help coerced from Syaoran, it was tied into a flowing bow on her back.

When the ordeal of dressing was complete, it was time to head to the dining room for dinner. Sakura thought for a moment of just hiding the cuffs under the table and making sure that they were first there and last to leave, but she was unable to use chopsticks with her left hand. Syaoran would have been able to eat fine since her right was connected to his left. Either way, she had no choice in the matter. Her father was already seated and talking with Yelan when they arrived.

"Dad," She greeted with strained cheer, in an attempt to pretend that everything had been going well. Her father looked at her silently. He seemed conflicted.

"Sakura. Your wrist, is it okay?" Fujitaka finally asked. It wasn't bad, but her wrist had begun to swell a bit where the metal of the cuffs rubbed against her skin.

"...It will be okay," Sakura said, fidgeting nervously with her cuff. She hadn't even noticed the irritation yet. Syaoran's hand was hanging out the bottom of his sweater. His wrist was thin and bony compared to hers thanks to the abuse his body had sustained. She could see little cuts along the skin. She would have to remember to treat it later.

"I guess I had better explain this..." Sakura sighed. Fujitaka was glancing worriedly towards her fiancé. "It's really not as bad as it looks." It was worse, but she wouldn't say it.

Sakura explained the situation. She left out a few key details, like the times Syaoran tried o hit her, to keep her father from worrying too much. At least Touya was busy working. She would have never been given the chance to explain since he would have tried to beat Syaoran to a bloody pulp.

Her father grudgingly accepted the current situation and didn't let it dampen his spirits over dinner.

Surprisingly, Syaoran managed to maintain a dignified composure throughout the meal. Sakura was not sure whether luck, fear of being separated from her, or even just the effects of his life of training that kept him docile throughout the meal.

* * *

After dinner, they returned to Syaoran's room and Sakura began treating both her and Syaoran's wrists. She rubbed a disinfecting gel on the broken skin, and then wrapped the wrists in bandages while she talked at Syaoran about what had happened since she had left.

She mostly talked about mundane things. She told him about her old friends and what they were up to now. It meant nothing to him since he had never met them. She also told him about the training she had been doing on her own and explained how she still could not call upon the powers of the Clow key and cards, even though her Li Clan magic was still effective.

They sat on the bed talking for several hours. That is to say that Sakura talked, and Syaoran mostly grunted. It was like he had turned himself off before supper and had not yet revived himself. When she ran out of things to say, she began to undress him. It was late after all and at supper, Yelan had told them that they would be expected as usual for the clan lessons.

When they were ready for bed, Sakura tentatively began to kiss across his now bare chest and suckled on whatever soft flesh she could find. Syaoran stiffened. It felt good to get a reaction out of him.

"What... are you... doing?" Syaoran asked as she found a particularly sensitive spot. She stopped for a second. Even her ears were red from her embarrassed blushing.

"Rewarding you," she whispered as she licked the hollow of his neck before she could lose her nerve, "You didn't do anything to worry my father at dinner." If he wasn't able to bring himself to be close with her, then she had no choice but to attempt to be aggressive now.

"I didn't do anything," He grumbled and looked away sadly. He tried to pull away. He struggled desperately, but Sakura wouldn't let go of him. When he saw how much his struggling was upsetting Sakura, he stopped for a moment and was shoved down onto his back and she continued what she had been doing.

"Look, you can barely control yourself." Sakura said and then nipped his collar bone roughly, earning a surprised gasp from her prisoner. Her cheek left a patch of wetness on his neck. "Doing nothing deserves a reward." She didn't let him respond, opting instead to delve deeply into his mouth with her tongue.

Her actions had had quite the effect on Syaoran. Every touch sent waves of desire through his body and he whimpered for more. All resistance and hesitation was gone.

At this, Sakura stopped abruptly and pulled away.

"Sakura..." Syaoran looked at her longingly. His eyes begged for one more touch.

"Doing nothing deserves a reward, but that's as good as you get for nothing," Sakura replied smugly. She was surprised that she had been able through with it. It had taken all her willpower to overcome her hesitation, especially when Syaoran had resisted. "You'll just have to do better tomorrow if you want more."

She didn't listen to any of his protests; as much as it pained her to refuse him. He would have to keep working for it, and she would gladly give it to him. She would only allow herself to give him as much as was needed to keep him addicted and never truly satisfy him.

* * *

The following morning, Sakura and Syaoran woke up when the alarm clock sounded. Syaoran growled and knocked the clock of the bedside table in an attempt to quell the incessant ringing which was only aggravating the massive headache he had. The alarm continued to sound. Now, he had to get up.

The movements made him dizzy and nauseous. He was about to smash the stupid thing against the wall when he heard a yawn. Sakura was awake. He turned to look at her. She was rubbing her tiredly, but was obviously waiting to see what he would do. Syaoran cursed inwardly and pressed the button to stop the buzzing much harder than was required.

"Time for lessons." Syaoran mumbled irritably.

Syaoran didn't even bother trying to put a shirt on. He already knew that none of them could be worn over the cuffs. He just wore his training pants. Sakura wore the same shirt she had the previous evening along her usual training pants.

The physical training was hard on him. It felt like each movement would topple him. Last year he had been going easy on Sakura, now he was having trouble keeping up. His punches and kicks were slow and never seemed to land where he aimed them. Sakura dodged every single one and often landed light, loose-fisted strikes on vital points of his body. Had it been a real fight, he would have lost. This only angered him, reducing his fighting capability even more.

It was soon over. There was no formal magic instruction that day. He never would have been able to handle it anyway. Sparring with Sakura had taken all of his energy. While an elder talked about something he didn't bother listening to, he took a nap on Sakura's lap.

Sakura tried to listen to the elder intently, but her mind soon wandered. Syaoran was asleep, and she wasn't going to wake him. So far, the morning had gone far better than she had expected. The sparring had only been enough to energize her and wake her up. Syaoran, however, was too exhausted to move. She wondered how long it would take him to return to his former state of physical perfection. If things continued to improve like they were now, she doubted that it would be long before she could trust him on his own again.

He got rewarded when they went to bed that night.

* * *

The next day started out similar to the previous one, but Syaoran was even more irritable. That morning, the subject was magic, and Syaoran couldn't even make a consistent breeze, let alone trying something new.

After breakfast, Sakura took him out to the gardens, hoping that the fresh air would calm him down. Syaoran ended up vomiting behind the rose bushes.

* * *

On the third day, Sakura really had to work to get Syaoran out of bed. The progress that he had made seemed to completely disappear. He refused to even try to participate in the lessons. The presiding elder yelled at him and would have received a punch in the face had Syaoran not missed.

Syaoran fought with Sakura about everything. At times, he seemed delirious. He was constantly sweating and vomiting. Sakura did her best to ignore him. She gave him a bucket and then spent most of the day watching television.

Syaoran didn't even get a good night kiss from Sakura that evening. He didn't seem to care.

* * *

Sakura woke up before the alarm clock sounded. Syaoran was thrashing about in his sleep. She woke him up, but it was like he didn't even realize that she was there.

Sakura called Dr. Ling and he arrived twenty minutes later.

"It's just the withdrawal." Dr Ling told Sakura after a cursory inspection.

"He was doing so well a few days ago." Sakura said sadly.

"It takes time for his body to metabolize the drugs." Dr. Ling explained, "His brain had become dependent on the drugs to function; now it has to learn to function without them as his body uses up the last of the chemicals."

"So all the progress we made... He's just going to go back to the way he was before?"

"You helped him to get through it. The next few days will be the most difficult. He'll never be completely free of the addiction, but things will become easier every day until you can't even tell the difference." Dr. Ling took a needle and a vial from is bag and injected the liquid into Syaoran. "This is a tranquilizer. It should keep him asleep until the worst is over." He took out another vial. "This one will block the receptors in his brain to that any of the drug left in his system will not affect him. It will make the withdrawal symptoms worse, but it will be over faster."

"Thanks." Sakura said. She had hoped that he would improve quickly and be back to his old self, now she knew that he would never be that person again. Even if he did come close, it would be a long time before he seemed the same. The process would drag on for months, or maybe even years. "What will happen if he manages to get more of the drugs?"

"His addiction will progress quickly. Recovering will depend on how much he takes and how long he's able to hide it. Let's hope that is a situation we won't have to worry about." Dr Ling said seriously. "It will help if you make him eat something with lots of vanilla whenever he has cravings. Vanilla is very addictive, and most people are already addicted to it, so it can be used as a substitute without causing much harm."

* * *

Over the course of the following day, Syaoran had begun to improve. Even though he was still sweaty and feverish, he was lucid and moving. He was not nearly as obedient as he had been before he had so quickly deteriorated, but he lacked the mood swings that had plagued him. Sakura's mood quickly became more cheerful as, with her help and encouragement, he made quick progress.

After a week, Sakura deemed Syaoran to be fit enough to leave the house. He still lacked energy, and was constantly dizzy and nauseous, but the vomiting had almost completely stopped. She suggested that he see the beginnings of the expedition that he had set up. It would also be the last chance Sakura had to see her father for a week. All the students and their belongings had arrived quicker than expected. She had gotten the chance to meet them once, but now they had to leave for their initial week of field work which would set the stage for the rest of the year.

"Would you like to go see what you started? Yukito tells me there's a really good café right across the street where we could go for lunch." Sakura suggested.

Syaoran readily agreed. As much as he enjoyed being home with Sakura all day, there was precious little they could do together other than train since Sakura had imposed strict limits on intimate activities in order to encourage his progress.

Clothing for Syaoran had been taken care of by Wei since the problem of dressing with the handcuffs had come to his attention. Since it was only a temporary measure until Syaoran could be trusted on his own, Wei had decided that two outfits were enough for him. The matching style ensured that they would not be mistaken as anything but a couple.

Syaoran's outfits had been custom made by the same seamstresses that made their training outfits and afforded the same free range of movement and convenient locations to store magical items. Both outfits consisted of a straight piece of silk with tapered ends. These might have been confused with decorative tablecloths of not for the hole in the middle to stick Syaoran's head through. Both were mostly a deep green color, but one was trimmed with black and the other with gold. Like Sakura's outfits, they had sashes to wrap around his body and hold the outfit closed. One sash was black and the other was gold. Both had the traditional yin-yang symbol of the Li clan emblazoned on the ends. Unlike Sakura's sash which wrapped up from her waist to her chest to be tied in a bow at her back, Syaoran's wrapped from his chest down to his waist where it was knotted at his side and could hold his sword if needed.

* * *

It was almost impossible to mistake the Li heir's identity when he and Sakura mysteriously appeared in the halls of the lab. Despite his diminished appearance, his posture and clothing were not something you could mistake. He was also attached to Sakura who had announced that she was the fiancée of the founder of the expedition. Of course, that didn't stop a certain boy from making a fool of himself.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Alex asked defensively when he saw Syaoran walking towards him, "This is a private institution; you can just walk in here."

Syaoran smirked. He had no idea how this guy had passed the requirements to join the expedition since he obviously did not pay attention to the important details. He had not even noticed Sakura, whom he'd already met, standing behind Syaoran, wondering if she should speak up and save Alex from the humiliation he was about to face. She decided to wait to see what Syaoran would do.

"I'm sorry," Syaoran replied dramatically in perfect and unaccented English, "I did not realize that this building belonged to you." He bowed mockingly.

"You should get out of here before you get in trouble." Alex suggested cockily, taking the bow as an admittance of wrongdoing instead of the insult it had been intended as.

"No, I absolutely must talk with the one who owns this building and offer my personal apologies." Syaoran continued the charade.

Alex's eyebrow twitched as he heard a giggle from the boy's companion. He hadn't even noticed that she was there. Her face was hidden behind the guy whom Alex had begun to suspect was making fun of him. Hers wasn't the only laughter that he heard. Jade had obviously heard and was not even trying to hide her laughter.

"What's so funny?" he turned and asked irritably.

"Nothing at all." Jade tried to resume a straight face before bursting into a fit of giggles again. Alex was irritated. While he and Jade had become friends since their meeting in front of the airport, Jade had the nasty habit of making sure his mistakes played out to their most humorous and embarrassing potential.

Alex was beginning to wish his life was on the line. He could be a genius when his life was on the line. He had never been too attentive to details. In the days when he had been cased across two continents by an angry mummy, he had always been relaxed and easygoing and a little bit clumsy. He guessed that it was his Uncle Jonathan's influence that had caused this character flaw. Despite this, he had been able to do anything he needed to survive, from deciphering hieroglyphics to building a rocket powered sand board out of junk. Jade had begun to take full advantage of his weakness.

* * *

Tomoyo stood in front of a mirror. Her dress looked perfect on her - too perfect. Tomoyo had based the design on the traditional gothic Lolita look and had added her own unique flair to it. She had wanted to look chaste for what she had decided was not going to be a date. To that effect, she had ensured that the neckline went all the way up to her jaw. Purple lace flowed from both her neck and her wrists, matching her dark eye shadow. The whole effect only brought out the radiance of her amethyst eyes. It was too late to worry about that now. She did not have time to make another dress. Besides, she was not even planning on meeting the bastard. She slipped on a pair of glossy black shoes and headed down the stairs.

Tomoyo was half expecting Hiiragizawa to be awaiting her as soon as she stepped out the door. He was not there. She looked up and down the street. Hiiragizawa's house loomed menacingly at one end. Hiiragizawa was nowhere in sight. She turned onto the street, walking away from his house. At the first opportunity, she turned again. Now, both the mansion and the café would get further away with every step. After about an hour of walking, her stomach had begun to rumble. It had been a bad idea to go for a walk when she had not yet eaten.

"You sound hungry." It was the voice she had not wanted to hear. She had just turned the corner to find him leaning casually against a rather expensive looking car. He was wearing a black suit with a navy shirt.

"I'm not as fashion conscious as you, so I hope I did well to match your style," he said, smiling politely as she scowled at him. He had obviously been waiting for her there. More than ever, Tomoyo hated magic.

* * *

Sakura stared in disbelief at their waitress. Her dark hair had been tied up in two Chinese buns as was traditional for, "Meiling-chan!"

Syaoran's arm was practically yanked off as Sakura ran and greeted Meiling. She had not come back to the mansion since the day Sakura had returned.

Syaoran gasped in pain and grabbed his shoulder.

"Sorry! Are you okay, Syaoran?" Sakura asked.

"Yes," He replied stiffly. He was obviously still in pain. In hindsight, it would have been better had she attached the cuff to his other arm. This wasn't the first time she had strained his pained shoulder and it probably wouldn't be the last. It had happened so much that he didn't even bother trying to coerce her into getting some drugs for him anymore because he knew that she would certainly refuse.

"So you discovered where I work," Meiling said. She gave Sakura a quick hug in greeting, ignoring Syaoran's pain as his shoulder was yanked again.

"We didn't know you worked here. Yukito and Touya ordered some food from here the first day that we got back here. They said the food was good."

"As if a Li would work in a place that wasn't absolutely excellent," Meiling replied, "Just sit back, relax, and I'll bring you some food that will knock your taste buds off." Meiling left them sitting on the terrace to go get them some food, despite protests that they hadn't ordered yet.

"Is she ignoring you?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

He grunted noncommittally and glanced around nervously.

* * *

Eriol parked the car near an intersection half a block from the restaurant. The trip had been quiet and tense. Eriol had not tried to even start any conversation. Tomoyo would not have replied if he had.

"Stop. Let's go somewhere else," Tomoyo begged, finally breaking the silence when the restaurant came into view.

"This is the perfect place. There are only two people there and we already know them. It would be nice to get reacquainted." Eriol replied.

"I don't know them," Tomoyo insisted. She turned to leave, but a vice-like grip on her wrist stopped her.

"...Let me go." Tomoyo said icily. His grip was too strong for her to break.

"You promised me lunch and a civil discussion," Eriol reminded her, "If you have a problem with the company you could always ask them politely to leave."

"Then leave!" Tomoyo spat out maliciously, "I didn't want to come in the first place."

"Are you lying to me Tomoyo-chan? Would you have dressed so beautifully for anyone else?" Eriol asked.

"If I was dressing up for you, then why did I try to skip our chat?" Tomoyo said coldly.

"Is that what you were doing? Perhaps you should not have come straight to me then. Were you drawn to me?" Tomoyo didn't like the tone of his voice. It sounded almost predatory.

"Was it because you know that I'm more powerful than her?" He nodded towards Sakura who was talking with Syaoran as they waited for Meiling to return.

* * *

Kero sat in Sakura's room playing video games. He had wanted to go with Sakura to the restaurant, but Sakura had promised that she would bring some dessert back for him if he stayed.

When he felt a powerful surge of magical energy, he knew that he would have to settle for what the cooks of the Li household would prepare for him later. He leapt out the window and flew as fast as he could towards the source of the energy.

On the way there, he met up with Yue, who was flying with equal determination towards the source of the disturbance.

"Weren't you at work?" Kero asked suspiciously. Yukito's disappearance would be noticed.

"Touya told me to go. He is covering for me," Yue replied.

"You would have come anyway." Kero said. As he flew, he began to think about Touya's actions. It was strange that he seemed to have discovered everything but still hadn't confronted Sakura about it.

* * *

"Tell me, Tomoyo-chan... Just imagine what you could do to them if you had my power." Eriol whispered into her ear.

His voice was hypnotic. Her body froze as he ran his fingers across the side of her head and through her hair. She couldn't help but think of a several dozen ways in which she wished Sakura would pay for Laishi's death.

"You are so cruel in your heart Tomoyo, to think such things about your closest friend." Eriol said sadly, "...But it is your heart's desire, and now it will not be stopped." he finished determinedly.

Tomoyo noticed in shock that Eriol was now holding his magical staff. The magnitude of it put that of Sakura's to shame. It was more than twice as long as the one that she had. "What do you mean?" A magical circle lit up brilliantly under them. "What are you doing?" Tomoyo whimpered. The magic scared her. It felt like the world was full of hatred. She wanted to back out of the circle, but her legs wouldn't obey her commands.

"I am doing nothing. It was your wish that brought this about. Now, not even I can stop it."

"Please stop it!" Tomoyo had never thought that what she had imagined would ever come to pass. Some of the things she had imagined, she would never have wanted anyone to experience, no matter how much she hated them. She could not forgive Sakura, and now she might never get another chance to.

* * *

"Did you feel that?" Sakura asked. She couldn't believe that such a powerful magical aura could exist. It had only appeared for a moment, so Sakura wondered if she had imagined it.

"A surge of magic that powerful? I doubt even someone as powerless as Meiling would have been able to miss it." Syaoran was unconsciously gripping his sword pendant.

"What was it? It felt familiar somehow." She couldn't place where she had felt the aura before.

"I don't know, but I can guess at what it did." He looked upwards where dark clouds had begun to blot out the sun. A powerful wind swept through, knocking over tables and chairs. Sakura and Syaoran were buffeted from all sides by the raging gale that seemed to be centered on them.

"Wind!" Syaoran put every ounce of his power into countering the winds, but it only fueled the storm more.

"Let me try. Wi-" Sakura was pulled to the ground by Syaoran. A flying chair barely missed her. Dust and pebbles whipped up by the wind stung her exposed skin. Sakura could see little drops of blood beading where similar projectiles had struck Syaoran.

"Wind!" There was a brief calm before the wind whipped around in even greater fury, trapping them in a cyclone.

If Syaoran had been in top form, he might have been able to summon Rh'Thulla, the spirit that had been bound to power their wind magic. Sakura had not yet learned this technique - it was still much too advanced for her. Syaoran was not even supposed to know it. Summoning was a technique reserved for teaching to those who had mastered all but the ofudas of light dark and chaos, however he had studied it and even successfully summoned Q'yth-az to help her capture the Earthy.

'If only the Clow cards would work.' Sakura thought desperately. It was their only hope to be spared being ground down to their bones by the storm.

"Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form to me. Your mistress, Sakura, commands it. Release!" Nothing happened.


	8. New Powers

**CH08: New Powers**

* * *

"Please release..." She begged.

Sakura felt like she was at fault for everything. Every tragedy that had occurred had somehow been related to what she had done. If she hadn't released the Clow cards, or even if she had just been better at capturing them, Laishi Lin would still be alive and Tomoyo would still be her best friend. If she had confronted Yue first, Syaoran wouldn't be injured. If she hadn't left, he wouldn't be addicted. If she had only been able to use her cards... then neither of them would die.

Syaoran wrapped his arms around her. He was still trembling. Sakura wondered if it was because he knew they were going to die. He jerked as a large piece of debris smashed into his back. He bit back a scream of pain from the impact as his grip around her became tighter. Was he trying to shield her with his own body, or only seeking his last comfort before his life ended?

"Sak... "It sounded like a voice trying to penetrate the howling of the wind.

"Did you hear that?" Syaoran groaned.

"Sa... ra..."

"It's Kero!" Sakura said. Her spirits instantly brightened. "He'll save us!" Sakura flinched as a splintering crash was heard. Sakura tried to sense where Kero was, but the air was much too saturated with magic for her to detect his presence. There was another loud crash. A few seconds later, another. A flash of blue light appeared above them and the wind screamed.

"Sakura!" The great yellow beast's head and a single paw made it through the barrier. It was enough to reveal that he had been badly wounded. Blood dripped from under his dented headpiece, and several deep gashes were ripped into his fur.

"KERO!" Sakura stretched her arm up in a futile attempt to reach him, but was pulled back down sharply by Syaoran before a shower of splinters rained down on them. "KERO!" Sakura shouted again. He was gone. There was no sign that he had ever set his paw within the enclosing whirlwind. Though it may have only been the dust blocking out the light, it seemed as if the entire world had gone dark for a moment.

* * *

"Stop it now!" Tomoyo was barely keeping her composure. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and glared at him threateningly.

"Tomoyo, I allowed you to use my magic at its fullest potential and you created this. If I tried to stop it, there would be a collision of two equal forces. Yes the storm would end, but the resulting explosion would kill everyone inside of it," Eriol explained calmly. He didn't seem worried at all.

"Please!" Tomoyo begged. Her head leaned against his chest. "I'm angry, but I don't want her to die."

"If that's true, then she will be fine. The spell is controlled by your will after all, even if it is only a copy imprinted into my staff." He felt her tears begin to wet his shirt and he looked to where Kero was valiantly trying to save his mistress. Yue took a more conservative approach, avoiding personal injury as he attacked the whirlwind from a distance.

'Sorry, Keroberos, but you do not have enough power to free her right now.' Eriol thought sadly.

* * *

"Sakura!" a battered Kero rose to his paws. His right foreleg was limping and his wings had been stripped of many of their feathers. He was in bad shape, but he couldn't give up while Sakura was in danger. Yue was hovering at a safe distance, shooting arrows as fast as he could. Kero opened his jaws wide, and with a mighty roar, shot a massive fireball at the wind.

* * *

The winds whipped violently as if impacted by a mighty force. Sakura felt something whiz by and scratch her. She looked up and saw a shower of sparks fade into the clouds of dust. It was as beautiful as it was deadly. Blue sparks appeared next, but with less force. The red ones flared again. Sakura knew that Kero must have been using his fireballs to create the red while Yue's arrows created the blue.

Her guardians... Her friends were trying their best to get her out, while she sat moping about her stupid key. She glanced at the offending object and the red light of Kero's blast illuminated the golden star on the end of it.

"The words control the spell in spirit if not in form," Sakura said as she remembered one of her first lessons in magic. "To control it, you must articulate it so that you control the spell and it doesn't cause unwanted effects or drain you of your life energy."

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized, "I've been asking for the wrong thing!"

Sakura remembered the words that Clow had said to her when she had passed the final judgment. "Clow's power was derived from the darkness, and so his key derived power from darkness. My power is not Clow's power. It does not come from darkness, the sun or the moon. My power is that of a star," she said resolutely and then began to chant, "Key that hides the power of my star, reveal your true form. Your mistress commands it. Release!" Sakura looked on in wonder as the key grew into the wand she had used to defeat Yue.

"You did it!" Syaoran said proudly, "I knew that you could do it." He winced in pain.

"Everything's going to be alright," Sakura said confidently as she stood up. A magical circle different from Clow's appeared below as her magical aura began to gently repel some of the flying debris.

"Now, Clow card!" She struck the Storm Card with her wand.

Nothing happened.

"Not again!" She exclaimed. Sakura collapsed to her knees, clutching her wand to her chest. "Why didn't it work?" She cried out in frustration. She had been so close. She could have defeated this magical force and saved both of them. Kero wouldn't be hurting himself trying to get to her. Why couldn't anything go right for her?

"Sakura. You have a new staff and a new source of power; maybe the cards need to be changed too," Syaoran suggested weakly as he struggled to remain upright, protecting Sakura from at least some of the flying debris with his own body.

"How am I supposed to do that? Mizuki-sensei told me the incantation to change the staff. How am I supposed to change the staff? I don't know how to change anything!"

"Just try. You can do it." Syaoran ordered.

"Clow card, discard your former power and draw upon a new strength. Storm!" With a flash of light, the card activated.

* * *

"You might want to watch this," Eriol said. He held Tomoyo's camera in front of him. Tomoyo had no idea where he had gotten it from. She had left it at home. "You will regret if you do not capture this."

Tomoyo took the camera and aimed it at the whirlwind as it began to fluctuate. The clouds above the wind darkened as another funnel of wind came down within the first, rotating the opposite direction.

A grinding sound filled the air and arcs of lightning crashed down all around the battling tornadoes. Tomoyo could barely hold her hands steady as she watched the display of power.

Then, with a powerful explosion, the outer wind expanded and dissipated. A fine mist of particles rained down upon Tomoyo. What had once been rocks and twigs and furniture and parts of buildings had been ground down to fine sand by the friction of the winds.

"Now wasn't that exciting?" Eriol asked. Tomoyo nodded as she watched the storm dissipate and form as a card in Sakura's hand.

"She was wearing my clothes." She muttered in shock.

"But it looks like our date will have to be postponed. It seems as if the restaurant will need to be cleaned up before it serves anyone." Eriol said dismissively. This snapped Tomoyo back to reality and she began to argue angrily with Eriol once more.

* * *

Meiling exited the restaurant carrying two plates of food and screamed incoherently as she surveyed the devestation.

"What the hell happened out here?" Meiling yelled. The patio area of the restaurant no longer existed. She looked at Sakura and Syaoran. While neither seemed to have any life threatening injuries, they were both looking terrible, covered in small cuts and abrasions. Kero was limping over, barely able to stand. Yue, however, seemed to be in immaculate condition and arrived at Sakura's side just in time to catch her as she fainted.

* * *

"Hoee!" Sakura exclaimed as a loud explosion woke her. She quickly identified the source of the explosion as a movie playing on the television.

Syaoran glanced away from the screen before flopping down beside her. The traces of their battle had almost disappeared from his features, yet he looked worse than he had before. The room smelled of sweat and sick, and she understood why when Syaoran rolled over and vomited over the side of the bed. A metallic splatter told Sakura that there was probably a bucket there.

"Syaoran?" Sakura said before yawning tiredly.

"I'm fine," he said hoarsely. He didn't look or sound fine to Sakura.

"How long was I asleep?" Sakura asked. She decided to let him keep his pride, or what was left of it, rather than force him to talk about his current infirmity. The doctor had told them that this type of thing was to be expected, at least for a few weeks.

"Two days," he replied. He sighed and rolled back to his original position.

"I'm still so tired," She said. She rolled over and lay her head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic thumping.

"Transforming the card took a lot of energy. It was like last year when Mei-" Syaoran's breathing paused for a moment, "she used the Fiery Card. Your magic wasn't strong enough so it took from your physical energy reserves."

"So if I transform more of them, I might die..." Her nails dug into Syaoran's stomach as she tensed at the thought.

"It's different with you though. They explained it when she almost died. When you deplete your power, it trains your body to handle more magical energy. It's like the saying 'what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger'."

"How many..." Sakura mumbled as she drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

Fujitaka led his students towards the gates of the Forbidden City. Some of them were taking the expedition seriously. Others, however...

"Were you looking at this?" Evalese asked Benjamin. He had become her favorite subject to tease. She leaned over to give him a better view of the area she was pointing at. "You know, you can be really cute when you look like that." Benjamin's face had become beet red.

"W-we n-n-need t-to be s-serious," he stuttered as he fought to avoid a nosebleed as more and more blood rushed to his face.

"''oo said I am not serious."

"Take this like man, Benjamin." Alexei gave him a solid shove, sending his face into the two voluptuous mounds displayed before him. Benjamin's body went limp and he flopped backwards to the ground in a daze. Alexei suddenly felt that he was the target of disapproving stares, including a particularly intense one from Evalese.

"Vhat? If he did not vant it, he should not have looked." Alexie defended himself to the French woman. This earned him a solid slap.

"Where I come from, actions like that would have serious consequences," Yosef pointed out, "You should watch yourself."

"Please maintain your composure while we are here," Fujitaka told the group, interfering so that the situation would not escalate any further, "You are representing both your schools and the Li Corporation. They are going to take your actions seriously." Fujitaka pointed towards the gates of the Forbidden City where a small army of guards waited for their arrival. The students shifted into a pair of parallel lines and stopped their boisterous activity as they approached and were greeted by a man in a red and gold suit. His jacket extended all the way to his ankles and his collar to the rim of his dark glasses. The only visible feature was his spiky black hair.

"Welcome," he said, "You are expected. I trust you have all memorized the behavioral code. It would be unfortunate if a mistake resulted in harsh consequences." He scanned the group. "Your name?" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"Eloise," the girl he had addressed replied.

"Return to your hotel and read the behavioral code again," he said coldly, "Your name?" He moved down the line before the girl could protest.

Fujitaka was not surprised that they were being tested this way. It was better to screen them at the door than to be forced to execute a foreigner for disobeying a rule they didn't understand.

"Furiya Kokoru," he said as he inclined his head respectfully.

"Proceed through to the guards. If you fail their challenge, you will be sent away. You will not be given another chance until tomorrow. Only those proven worthy may enter." He turned. "Kinomoto-sama, your presence has been requested by my father. You will not be challenged; please do not betray the trust that has been placed in you."

"You honor me too greatly. I humbly accept the invitation, Yuan-sama." Fujitaka bowed as far as his body would allow.

"Rumors of your scholarly excellence precede you. Meeting you has not been a disappointment." Yuan moved to the next student.

"Your name?"

"Chan Jade." She stated confidently as she emulated what she had seen Furiya do.

"This is a test of knowledge, not mimicry. Do not defile my home with such actions again," Yuan said angrily, "Return to you hotel. You will not enter until you have learned the rituals demanded of you."

Jade was shocked, but did as she was told. In the end only a few others achieved entrance to the Forbidden City that day: Meir Yosef, Velsen Benjamin, O'Connell Alex, Li Fei, Kai Fan, Long Teng, and Si Quan.

* * *

One of the guards led Fujitaka through the small walled city within a city. He was taken to the palace where a figure, who he presumed to be the emperor was sitting behind a translucent veil. Fujitaka, having completely memorized the procedures bowed fully prostrate at the entrance. There was a period of silence, but he did not look up. To gaze upon the emperor's face was a crime worthy of death. Even the Eunuchs and the royal guard kept their eyes pasted solidly to the floor. He knew better than to commit such an infraction without the Emperor's direct order.

"Rise and come forth." A eunuch who stood at the entrance to the curtain said after a faint whisper was heard. "My lord welcomes you into his home." Fujitaka stood and advanced to the base of the steps that lead to the risen section where the emperor sat. He kneeled. His eyes never left the floor.

"Your lord honors me. I am unworthy to kneel before even the humblest of his servants."

More whispers were heard. The eunuch began to tremble, reluctant to repeat what was spoken. Another whisper came and the Eunuch blurted out, "My lord says to 'cut the bullshit,' he will speak to you privately." At this, the eunuchs and guards left the room and closed the doors. They were obviously shaken by what had transpired.

Fujitaka waited as the curtain seemed to pull itself aside.

"You know as well as I do that this is motivation for the people. Subjecting you to these contrivances in private is a waste of both of our time." Despite his usual form of communication, the emperor had a strong voice.

"Thank you," Fujitaka replied as he stood and looked the Emperor in the eye. He was a middle-aged Chinese man with short, slightly graying hair. He was of average height, and his build was wide and solid. His eyes were piercing and gray. He wore flowing robes. They were similar but much more intricate than the ones the younger Yuan. Fujitaka guessed that, based on the clothes, the man who greeted them must be the Emperor's son. On the emperor's left hip was a jeweled scabbard with a gold hilted scimitar. In his right hand, he held a staff that was topped with a diamond orb the size of a fist. A flash of light flared through the gem, temporarily blinding Fujitaka. The emperor's face looked surprised for a moment as he looked upon the man before him.

* * *

Meiling sighed as she looked over the bills she had to pay. The restaurant had been closed for repairs for a few days, and she was sure that she would have to dip into her savings to make ends meet this month. She remembered what Sakura had said about her allowance. Five-hundred American dollars per week. Sakura had spent only a few hundred of it thanks to Syaoran, so she now had a rather impressive sum in her bank account, especially since the amount had been raised since the engagement. This of course had only been one of many ploys to attract Sakura into joining the Li family.

In reality, Meiling had made less than a tenth of that, and had not had the opportunity to be so frugal. It seemed a little comical that their allowance was paid in American dollars, but the Li Corporation was an international business, and the United States dollar was the easiest currency to work with. Because they used prepaid credit cards linked to expense accounts, the difference in currency had never really made a difference to Meiling. Now it mattered. If she started using the few thousand dollars she had saved she would also have to pay conversion fees...

She wasn't sure what she was going to do when school came around. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to afford her tuition, even if she could get a full scholarship, and she did not want to go crawling back and begging for money. This meant that she would need another source of income, and it would have to earn a lot more than waitressing did.

"It's just a damn bedroom and kitchen, how can it cost so much?" Meiling sighed. Electricity and water were included fortunately, but still, twenty-one thousand Yuan a month was terribly expensive, but it was the only thing she could find even remotely close to her price range. It must be the price one paid for living in such a rich neighborhood.

Her money troubles did not end there. She had been taking advantage of her job to get a few free meals a day. With the café closed, her food costs had more than tripled. At this rate, she would never even be able to afford a car. She knew that Wei would be more than happy to give her a ride wherever she needed to go, but she knew that he would have no choice but to serve those in the main branch first. This really, really, sucked.

Meiling decided to go outside for a bit of fresh air to clear her head. The stress was beginning to get to her and the exercise would do her good. She hadn't really had time to train since moving away so the fresh air felt good to her. Her walk soon turned to a run. She zipped masterfully between the pedestrians in the crowds, occasionally executing some fancy acrobatics to avoid them.

A flyer in a window caught her eye and she skidded to a halt outside a rundown building. It wasn't that the flyer was particularly impressive. It was the number at the bottom that caught her attention: Two-hundred-thousand. It was the first prize for a martial arts competition. She didn't hesitate to race into the building. That prize would cover rent for almost an entire year.

The building was surprisingly clean on the inside. The walls were painted white with only a few wall scrolls with words like 'honor' written in large calligraphy. There was a pot of leafy bamboo shoots sitting next to a dark wooden desk. Tatami mats lined the floor. Meiling took off her shoes and wandered over to an archway that led to the only other room on that floor of the building. This large room had weapon racks lined up along the walls. Some were filled with bamboo training weapons. Others were definitely real. Except for a path along the edges of the room, the entire floor was lightly padded. In the center of the room a middle-aged man sat meditating. The floor creaked under her footsteps and the man looked up.

"May I help you?" The man asked.

"The contest on the flyer outside. I want to enter it." Meiling stated.

"Your dojo will be able to enter you in the contest." The man said dismissively.

"I don't have a dojo," Meiling replied.

"Then what you are looking for is a dojo." The man replied. His eyes focused on her like a hunter watching its prey.

"No. I can't afford membership right now. That is why I want to fight in the tournament. I need the money. Please let me enter." She begged.

"I cannot just let anyone walk in off the streets and enter the competition. Martial arts is a dangerous sport. You might get hurt."

"Then test me." Meiling snapped. The man was irritating. He wasn't taking her seriously. She barely saw the man move. He was on his feet and making his way behind her in the time it took her to blink.

"Right feint, left ankle hook," Meiling called out as she swept with her foot, going for the leg she knew would be supporting the man's weight. It had been the obvious move. What better way to prove that someone is not ready for a fight than to attack them from behind. As the man jumped back to avoid the attack, Meiling used her momentum and did a one-handed cartwheel that landed her a few feet away from the man in a standard defensive position. "Flip and stance."

"Most people would just react on instinct in a battle like this. You remained calm and even called your attacks. I underestimated you." The man grinned. He was enjoying this.

"A mistake that is made only once," Meiling replied cockily.

"I will admit that you have the skill to fight, but I cannot let you enter a contest without being a member of a dojo." He taunted.

"I'll join and pay the fees when I win then."

"There's no guarantee that you'll-" Meiling rushed him.

"Right," her fist barely missed his face.

"Left," He couldn't dodge this one. He had to take it or block. Either way would work in Meiling's favor. He blocked, grabbing her wrist.

"Back, grab," She took a step back and pressed against the elbow of his extended arm with her free hand.

"Lock." She forced his elbow up. He had to lean forward, setting him off balance. She kicked the back of his shoulder, sending him falling face first towards the floor. As he fell, her leg slid along his shoulder, trapping it under her knee while his elbow was twisted up painfully and wedged into her waist.

"I win." There was no way the man could move without dislocating his shoulder now.

"I would expect nothing less from the infamous Li Meiling. But that does not change the fact that I can't allow you to enter." He said.

"Why not? I'm good enough, and I said that I'd pay you!" Meiling said angrily, forcing the hold deeper. How did this guy know her name?

"Because, if you'd read the whole flyer, you'd know that the contest is for eight to fifteen year olds." The man teased the infuriated Meiling.

"So I was wasting my time here?" Meiling blinked slowly as this fact registered with her.

"Fighting an opponent like you is not a waste of time, but you seem to have lost your edge since you defeated my student in the national competition." So that was how he knew her. She didn't recognize him. She had defeated many 'undefeatable prodigies' in that competition. None of them stood out - she had beaten all of them easily.

"I haven't had enough time to train," she replied bitterly.

"There are other competitions, and other options," the man said, "but you will have to wait for a little while if you'd like to discuss them."

"What? Why?"

"It seems that the students of this dojo have arrived. And if you keep me in this hold any longer, my arm will become too stiff to train them." Meiling released the man and he began his class.


	9. Master and Champ

**CH09: Master and Champ**

* * *

The students ranged in age from toddlers to old men and all were of varying skill levels. The head of the dojo led them through various katas before separating them to spar while he watched their technique and corrected errors. One student, a boy in his mid teens, stood off to the side and watched as the master taught the other students. His eyes flicked back and forth over the class, taking in what he could learn and stopping to watch whenever the sensei corrected other students.

"Need a sparring partner?" Meiling asked. The boy was obviously being left out of the group on purpose. She could guess why by the way he was paying attention to the movements of the rest of the class.

"No." He replied dismissively, not taking his eyes from the instruction the teacher was giving to a young boy.

"You must be as bored of this as I am. Besides, you're paying to learn here, you might as well learn how to lose," Meiling taunted him. She was pretty sure that he was the star pupil of the group and was only awaiting personal instruction rather than being ignored.

"You're the expert at that are you?" The boy sounded irritated. It reminded her of the way Syaoran used to act before he had met Sakura.

"No just the best teacher," Meiling replied as she struggled against the growing urge to pound the boy to death. The attitude was a lot more irritating coming from him.

"You're not worth fighting." He said flippantly. His head turned slightly as the teacher moved to the next student. He perfectly mimicked the stance that the teacher was showing to a middle aged woman.

"You wouldn't lay a hand on me. In fact, I bet that I could knock you down three times and you wouldn't land a single hit," Meiling bragged. Sure, he might be good, but she knew that she was much better.

"Really? You would bet on it?" He smirked confidently.

"I'm pretty good." Meiling replied derisively.

He turned and finally started paying attention to her. "Fine then, if I hit you, you go to a dance as my date," he said smugly. To Meiling, his attitude seemed really immature.

"I'm not too old for you?" Meiling asked. He had to be at least two years younger than her, if not three or four.

"The guys are going to be so jealous when I have you on my arm. So let's get this started." He threw the first punch. She dodged and caught his wrist. She was not going to be some arm candy to some prepubescent kid.

"Didn't you want to hear my terms?" Meiling asked. The boy's first punch had not been too serious. He had intended to take her by surprise and win the bet. The next strike he would put everything into.

"Why? You're not going to-" He kicked at Meiling's side thinking that she couldn't dodge while holding his wrist. She didn't have to. She spun around and he found himself looking down on her from the air moments before he bounced heavily off the floor. He grunted as the wind was knocked out of him.

"One." Meiling smirked as she backed off and allowed him to stand. He took a minute to steady his breathing. "Don't underestimate your opponent; it only takes one lucky hit to take you out of the match." It was good advice, and that only meant that he would be even more pissed off by it. Meiling knew from experience how infuriating it was to have someone who looked down upon you criticize you.

"Take your own advice." He launched into a flurry of punches and kicks. He was faster than Meiling had anticipated, and she was put on the defensive. His speed almost matched her own and she could barely see his strikes. Many of them came within a hair's breadth of hitting her. His speed came at a price though. She soon recognized it as one of the elementary attack patterns that she had mastered as a child. Once she realized this, she was abled to dodge past his attacks and hit him in the chest with a palm strike. He went flying back and slammed into the ground, stunning him for a moment.

"Two," she said calmly. She was trying hard to resist panting she was not used to doing so much exercise anymore. He was looking irritated as he stared at the mocking girl. "Fast is good, but not when it is predictable. Watch for weaknesses and don't rely so much on patterns and forms," she suggested as she relaxed into the traditional Li stance.

"Predict this!" His leg shot towards her face. She barely had to lean back at all to dodge the attack. Using a single finger, she pushed on the back of his heel and he lost his balance. He landed on his butt for the third time.

"Attacking in anger will cloud your judgment and make you easier to defeat. Calm and focused - that's how your mind must be to react intelligently in a battle. Also, I believe I won." Sounds of clapping alerted them to the fact that the entire room had been watching the fight.

He scowled angrily. "So what did you want?" He grumbled.

"I'll make sure you win the tournament, and you'll give me half the prize money," she said. The boy had potential, but his ratty gi told her that he probably wouldn't have anything she'd value, especially in her current circumstance.

"I'll win without some nobody training me," he countered petulantly.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" Meiling smirked. She had not competed professionally since she was his age. It was understandable that he hadn't heard of her.

"Some loser who likes to beat up younger kids?" He was trying to get a rise out of her. Meiling's temper finally gave out.

"Try Li Meiling, the flaming fist of the Li clan. National martial arts champion, undefeated in tournaments, national or international," She practically shouted, emitting an aura of killer intent that would make a grown man cower in fear. The boy backed off. He'd already seen what she could do, and it would be stupid to make her angry now.

"She's also the new teacher I'm hiring to train you for the tournament," the sensei said kindly.

"But you're the shadow tiger of Japan," the boy exclaimed, "your first strike is the last. No one can train me better than you can." He obviously idolized the elder martial artist.

"I may look young, but I'm almost fifty years old. I'm not as young or fast as I used to be. I need someone who can bring your skills up to a level my body can no longer reach," he explained, rubbing his back for emphasis.

"You're Tsumeguchi Kagetora!" Meiling exclaimed with surprise, finally recognizing him. The man was legendary in the martial arts world. "I studied your book of martial arts forms when I was training. Your method is legendary."

"Admittedly, you might have had more trouble if I was still competing when you first started fighting professionally. If I remember correctly, you went from completely unknown to national champion in eight months." The boy's right eyebrow arched skeptically when he heard this.

"When you have proper motivation, you can achieve anything," Meiling replied. At the time, she had been considered completely average in every respect. The elders had thought that she might even be slowing Syaoran's training down. Proving herself had been the only way to make sure that they were not separated from each other. Even that achievement would not have been enough if Yelan had not intervened on her behalf.

"Well you'll find this boy to be plenty motivated," he said proudly, "His name is-Laishi Ryuuten."

"Laishi-" Meiling stumbled over the name. It was familiar to her. How could she forget the battle with the power card? Sakura still hadn't mended the wounds created that day. Meiling hadn't thought that Laishi had any direct relations, but thought it was better not to mention it.

"When's that dance you wanted to take me to?" It was the only thing she could think to say at that moment. He looked at her stunned. "It's not that I like you or anything," she quickly explained, "but... we're going to be training together so we should get to know each other as friends."

"This Friday," he said. Then he actually smiled. Meiling returned the smile nervously. She hoped that his name was just a coincidence. If he actually was related to Laishi Lin, things would get awkward if he ever found out that she had been there when Laishi had died.

The tournament was scheduled for a week before school started and lasted for an entire weekend.

For the rest of the class, the people took turns sparring. Each member of the class got a firsthand demonstration of Meiling's skills. One eight year old boy even got a hit on her, much to everyone's amusement.

After the class was over, Tsumeguchi and Meiling waited for the others to leave before discussing what the arrangements for this new job were.

"I can't pay you a lot," he saidn "As this dojo currently stands, I have taken upon myself as many students as I can possibly teach well. If this works out, with your help, I may be able to take on more students, but for now, I can pay you no more than twenty-eight hundred Yuan a week. Lessons are every weekday at seven."

Meiling considered what he had said. The job would not interfere with her waitressing for the rest of the summer, and would keep her out of debt, but once school started, it would not even cover her rent.

"I would only be able to stay for a few weeks... After the tournament I would need to find a better paying job to cover my rent."

"If I could suggest that you look for some cheaper housing..."

"I can't. I need to be within walking distance of my school because I can't afford a car as well as a house. My apartment was the cheapest available."

"I see." He thought for a moment. "There are some extra rooms upstairs. I suppose I could let you rent one of those."

"How much?" She asked excitedly. It seemed too good to be true.

"You will be expected to keep the dojo and I would ask that I receive a portion of any tournament winnings."

"You either really want me to stay or you think that I'm going to win a lot." she laughed nervously.

"Welcome home," He said with a smile, not indicating which he had meant.

Tsumeguchi led her to a flight of stairs and up to the second level of the three story building. Meiling was surprised to find that this level contained two more training rooms.

"I originally intended to hire more teachers and expand into these rooms, but things did not go as planned," he explained.

"You couldn't find enough students?" Meiling asked.

"When you're a martial arts legend, students are easy to come by; it is worthy teachers that I had trouble finding. Just choose one of these rooms. It will be your private room. I am afraid I can't offer much of a kitchen, but you can borrow mine until you figure something out."

* * *

Singing was the one comfort left to Tomoyo, or at least it had been. Ever since their 'date', Eriol had not left her alone. It was not that he was forceful, but he made sure to see her several times a day. Every time she would prepare for her upcoming performance, he would be sitting on the windowsill listening to her sing. There was nothing she could do about him and that smug little smile he always wore, so she tried to ignore him.

However, on this particular occasion, he took it a step further. She had opened her mouth to sing, and she had heard the piano playing. He was accompanying her perfectly and it infuriated her.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Tomoyo demanded. Over the past couple of days, she felt that she had made her feelings for him abundantly clear.

"I must sincerely apologize. It seems that my presence distracts you from your practice. I'm looking forward to taking you there. I am sure that your performance will be a resounding success."

"It's just a bunch of teenagers gathering for a party before school starts. I don't even know why I agreed to perform." She huffed, turning her back on Eriol.

"Please don't lie to me," Eriol calmly protested, "You know that I cannot be so easily fooled. You're doing this for her."

"I don't even want to speak to you. I don't want to see your face anymore. I want nothing to do with you." She mumbled irritably.

"I can't leave you alone. It would be terrible if you forgot about me." He looked into her eyes in a way that sent eerie chills down her spine. "Besides, we never got to have our date, and I won't stop until we have it properly. After that if you want me to leave you alone, then so be it."

"What kind of game do you think this is?" Tomoyo's fists were clenched tightly and she glared at her tormentor angrily. "I'm not going to be a pawn in your stupid -"

"Who said you were a pawn?" Eriol approached and kneeled before her, "You, my dear, are the queen," he kissed her hand. She pulled away ad rubbed her hand on the bed spread. "and while the game still revolves around the king, the queen is unique in that she both commands the pawns and has unrivaled strength."

"Strength? What strength so I have that the great wizard does not, since I cannot even keep to myself with my power."

"By virtue of being the queen, I can neither let you go, and my opponent cannot cease striving for you. Both sides align at your rallying call, and your very presence brings about the life or death of the pawns and if you're lucky, you may even get a chance at striking the enemy a mortal blow." He stood up and smiled darkly.

"Enough with the chess analogy. It doesn't apply. I'm weak. I can't do anything but watch as everyone around me gets injured or killed." She swung an unskilled fist at Eriol. He caught the blow easily and pulled Tomoyo against himself.

"Not everyone," he whispered before he pushed her away and leapt out the window.

"Damn you, Hiiragizawa."

* * *

"You found another place to live?"

"It's practically free to. It came with my new job," Meiling said excitedly. She had called Sakura so that she and Syaoran could help her move into her new apartment. "Grab the refrigerator, would you?" Meiling requested.

"It's almost as big as I am!" Sakura exclaimed. It wasn't a full sized refrigerator, but it was still more than Sakura could handle on her own.

"You can use the Clow cards again, can't you?"

"Even if I transformed the power card, I'd never have enough energy to use it," Sakura pointed out. She also did not want to risk endangering herself by using up too much energy. "Besides, I doubt I'd even be able to get it through the door."

"How about the loop?" Meiling suggested.

"I've never used it, but I'm pretty sure I have to know where I want it to loop to."

"You aren't very helpful are you?" Meiling joked and then furrowed her brow as she tried to think of another idea.

"I never said I couldn't do it, but I'll probably need help." Sakura took out some ofudas. "Syaoran showed me this trick once. Syaoran, tilt the refrigerator please." Meiling and Syaoran worked together to tilt it backwards while Sakura attached some wind ofudas to the bottom. The sound of food rolling to the back and the splashing of liquid spilling surprised the three.

"I guess we should have taken the food out first," Meiling said sheepishly, "No wonder I couldn't move it when I tried." There was no point in removing the food now, it would already be spilt. She would have to remember to clean it up when she got it to her new home.

"Okay that's good I think." Sakura said. She grabbed the large appliance and lifted it with ease. A layer of air swirled under it and supported the weight.

"Actually, I had another reason I wanted to talk to you," Meiling said as they guided the appliance down the stairs to where Wei was waiting with a van. "You guys are going to a dance this Friday."

"Hoeee?" Sakura turned to Meiling, forgetting about what she had been carrying. "I don't know if he's ready for that kind of thing yet."

"You will come, won't you Sakura?" Meiling begged, "I don't want to be stuck with just a bunch of fourteen year olds."

"Why are you going to a dance for people that young anyway?"

"It's not like I'm dating him. He's just a student at the Dojo I'm going to be working at. I am going to train him for a tournament."

"So you're training him to fight by going dancing?"

"No, I just thought it would be good to get to know him." She said confrontationally.

"What aren't you telling us?" Syaoran asked tensely. Meiling always acted like this when she was hiding something. "You wouldn't be going if there wasn't another reason."

"His name is Laishi Ryuuten." Meiling replied nervously. Syaoran's kept his expression blank. He didn't want to acknowledge the name.

"Is he related to her?" Sakura asked, nervously clutching her hands together.

"I don't know. What was I supposed to say? 'Did your mother die last year and do you blame my best friend?'" she said with badly emulated innocence, "That isn't exactly easy to bring up in a conversation." She huffed.

"So you're just hoping he's going to spontaneously start talking about his family? Or maybe, you're hoping the issue never comes up." Syaoran mocked, making Meiling feel like a coward.

"Does it make a difference?" Sakura asked, "It doesn't matter who his family is. It matters who he is."

"Tsumeguchi-sensei told me that he was a special case. He's very gifted, but he is an orphan. I don't know the circumstances, but he has been getting his training without paying the dojo for several years now."

"So, he's fighting to remain in the dojo now?" Sakura asked.

"No. Tsumeguchi is too kind hearted for his own good." Meiling smiled happily as she thought about the man. He had been very helpful, even after she had rudely burst into his dojo and beaten him up.

"I've heard that name before," Syaoran mused out loud.

"The hand to hand combat manuals. He wrote a lot of them," Meiling reminded him, "I knew who he was the moment Ryuuten said his name."

"Look at that!" A woman remarked. She and her husband were exiting their apartment.

"Damn, she's strong!" Her husband replied. They weren't the only ones appearing in the hall. The noise had attracted the attention of some of the other residents as well.

"She's holding that with one hand as if it was weightless." All at once, Meiling Syaoran and Sakura grabbed the refrigerator and descended as quickly as possible towards the ground floor.

* * *

Meiling's move finished without further incident. Afterwards, she ate and then trained while waiting for the class to begin. Ryuuten showed up early.

"Good evening, Li-sensei." Ryuuten greeted her.

"Want to spar while we wait?" Meiling asked. It was always more fun to train with a partner.

"That would be great," he said. He grinned confidently as he took his stance. It was the same one that the Shadow Tiger used. It was a good match for the Li style.

"Let's make this interesting," Meiling suggested, "Every point shot, the victim has to answer a question."

"Like truth or dare?"

"You'll have to hit me to get the answer." Meiling smirked. A few seconds into the fight, Meiling scored the first hit. "Boxers or briefs?" She grinned evilly. Asking him about his mother right off would have been cruel, but that didn't mean embarrassing him wouldn't be fun.

"Commando," He replied jokingly, but with a hint of seriousness. "Actually it depends what I'm doing."

Meiling feinted a dodge of one of his strikes and allowed him to graze her side. "I guess it's your turn."

"How many times have you slept with your boyfriend?" he asked. She was trying to embarrass him, why shouldn't he do the same?

"I..." Meiling paused as she considered her answer. "I don't have a boyfriend." She hit him. "How many times have you slept with your boyfriend?"

"Snarky bitch," was his reply as he launched a ferocious flurry of attacks. When one finally landed he asked, "Why do you think you're so much better than everyone?"

"I'm not better than everyone, just better than you. A Li does not lose except to another Li," she grunted. The kid had stamina. He hadn't stopped attacking.

"Why do you get special treatment from everyone?" She asked as she karate chopped him in the side when he tried to punch her.

"Because I don't have a fucking family. My parents are dead!" He replied loudly and angrily. She had obviously struck a nerve with that question.

"Well so are mine; it's no excuse. A person has to live on their own strength. You can't rely on someone else as a crutch 'cause you'll just end up getting hurt in the end." Meiling bit her lip and hit him hard enough to knock him down. She had come too close to getting really emotional. She still had something to do. "What happened to your parents?"

"Dad was an alcoholic. His liver failed. He was a bastard. Mom had been taking self defense classes to protect herself. When she was pregnant, he tried to hit her. She protected me and punched him in the gut. He collapsed. A few hours later he was dead. I only know what she told me before she died."

"What happened to her?" Meiling asked gently. He hadn't gotten up, so she didn't bother attacking.

"That bitch killed her," he said angrily and glared downwards.

"Who did?" Meiling knew she was close to getting the answers she needed.

"It doesn't matter," He deflected angrily.

"I lost my father when I was young," Meiling knew that she had pushed him too far. She had to reciprocate if she wanted him to trust her enough to talk about it. "I was an only child then. They never told me what really happened to him. My mother never really liked me. She was more than happy to go work at the main family's compound so my cousin could have a playmate and she could be rid of me. I only saw her a few times after that before she left me there. After that she got sick, but I didn't care. Aunt Yelan was more of a mother to me even before I moved there than my real mother was."

There was not even a pretense of fighting anymore.


	10. Feeling the Music

**CH10: Feeling the Music**

* * *

"You're almost ready," Eriol's voice startled Tomoyo. She had been examining herself in the mirror when he had suddenly appeared behind her and placed a gentle hand on her bare shoulder.

As much as she hated the boy who stood with her, she could not dress as such. She was going to be singing and dancing with a crowd of teenage fans. In that situation, one did not dress conservatively, or at least someone with Tomoyo's fashion sense refused to. It was not that her dress was slutty in the least, in fact it covered more skin than most girls her age would. It clung seductively to all the right places and draped loosely everywhere else. Tonight, the eyes and ears of hundreds of people would be on her and she was going to give them a show they'd never forget.

She turned and looked at the annoyance that she could not get rid of. If he was going to act like her date, then he would at least be arm candy that she could be proud of. She was surprised to find that he once again knew how to dress himself. He wore a dark purple silk shirt and dark blue pants that were joined together by a black belt with a silver buckle with a design carved on it. She recognized the design. She had seen it hundreds of times before whenever Sakura had manifested her magic.

"You seem awfully interested..." Eriol whispered to her seductively, "But let your eyes wander, you're not going there on the first date." Tomoyo flushed from anger and embarrassment.

"Do you always draw magic symbols on your clothing?" She turned away from Eriol and began to look through her jewelry. She felt like something was missing from her look, but had no idea what it was.

"I find that it can be handy to have a magical item or two on me," he said casually. "Who knows what could happen?" The way he said the last part sent a shiver of fear down her spine.

"Does that mean that you're anticipating a third first date?"

"You see a lot more than you think. It's too bad you can't realize it." Eriol smiled lightly. "Shall we be going?"

* * *

Meiling was exhausted. It had only been a few days, but Tsumeguchi wanted to get her back into top fighting form. It was not that she was in bad shape, in fact, the top martial artists would still think twice before messing with her, but with the way her training had been for a month now, she had gotten a bit soft. She collapsed on the floor of her room, and what seemed like moments later, there was a knocking.

Meiling slid open the door grumpily. Whoever it was would regret interrupting her rest. She came face to face with a bunch of handpicked flowers carried by her student. She blinked slowly. She hadn't expected him to come by. The class had ended over an hour ago.

"It is almost time for the dance," he pointed out, "Will you be ready soon?"

"Dance?" She had completely forgotten about it since she had begged Sakura to come. "Give me a minute." She shoved past him, ignoring the flowers and headed towards the washroom to take a quick shower to wash off the sweat.

A few minutes later, when she returned, he was sitting in her room. The flowers had been placed in a bowl of water and set on the table.

"Out," She ordered. She pointed at the door, carefully ensuring that the towel she was wearing didn't slip.

"Okay." His eyes didn't leave her as he stepped out of the room and she closed the door. A quick two minutes later she emerged. She wore a white dress with red trim that displayed Li symbol on the back. Her hair, still slightly damp, was put up into a high ponytail.

"Okay, let's go," She said rather energetically as she grabbed his wrist and began to drag him out of the building.

"You look good," Ryuuten said. He meant it. The only word that sprang to his mind to describe her appearance was erotic. The white fabric clung to her still damp skin. He looked forward to seeing what would happen once she really started to sweat.

"Idiot." She smacked him in the back of the head. She knew she looked horrible. She had rushed getting ready too much for it to be worth a compliment. It didn't really matter anyway. They were just going as friends and they were late. There was no point in taking a long time to look nice anyway. It was a dance. There would be dancing, an exercise almost as rigorous as fighting. She would be a sweaty mess by the end anyway.

She glanced at her escort for the evening. Something about his smile unnerved her. She had seen the dazed look on the faces of many guys. It told her that he was appraising her like a piece of meat. She didn't really care about that though as long as he didn't try something stupid. Her training had kept her in good shape and she was proud of her body. She wasn't particularly curvy; her athleticism had kept her body light and toned, but she did have breasts and that's where Ryuuten's eyes seemed to be focused.

* * *

Sakura knew the type of activities that could go on at a dance, especially ones like this. It had been organized by students and was being staged at an empty warehouse that had been rented for the evening. She had no doubt that there would be drugs and alcohol. If they were not being taken in the open, then at least in the darkest corners, junkies would be enjoying the night through a bottle, needle or pill. Sakura had half a mind to lock their other wrists together just to be safe, but instead was allowing him a trial separation - on the condition that he remain within the same boundaries that the chain would have allowed. She was determined to ensure that he did not touch drugs ever again.

Syaoran really hadn't cared either way. He liked being attached to Sakura. She could be very affectionate if he was good, though when he slipped up there was nowhere to hide. He had half a mind to do something bad, just so that they could remain chained together.

He had come to enjoy the mornings, especially when he now got the chance to watch her body move through the translucent veil of the shower curtain. Sometimes, she would even leave it open a crack and he would catch glimpses of the forbidden treasures of her body that he longed for. He was never sure whether this was carelessness or just another of the little games she had created to entice him into doing his best.

He had been quite disappointed when she had gone to Wei and had him retrieve the key before she washed up in preparation for the dance. He paced outside the washroom. He was wondering if he should enter and begin his own preparations. She was, after all, already used to him being in there with her.

He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. Thinking too hard made his headache worse and all the pacing was aggravating his stomach. There was an easy way to find out. He opened the door a crack.

"Hoee!" A bar of soap bounced off Syaoran's skull. It answered his question quite effectively. "Don't make me chain you to the bed!"

"Sounds like fun," he called back to her. Syaoran was pretty sure that the ever naive, if not innocent, Sakura was now beet red and was mightily resisting the urge not to peek again. His loins pulsed with excitement at the thought of a naked, wet blushing Sakura coyly revealing a little while pretending to cover herself. The thought was soon replaced with another, one that made him dash for the vomit pail. What he had done that night sickened him more than any withdrawal ever could.

* * *

As one of the performers, Tomoyo arrived before the dance was scheduled to start. A few other local bands had also come and were busy setting up on the stage. Tomoyo, only being a singer, had little preparation.

Eriol was hovering over her and watching with a glazed look as she got ready. When she took out the CD that held the music she would be singing to, he said, "I'll do that."

"If you're going to be here, might as well be useful," Tomoyo told her annoyance, "Give this to the DJ." She handed the disc of the music for her performance to him.

"As you wish," He said. Tomoyo could not see the magical aura that emanated from the disc for a second when Eriol took it from her.

* * *

The first group to take the stage had merely been a warm up act. Tomoyo felt that there was a good reason why they had not received more opportunities to perform. She was glad that the DJ had decided to play some other music between their performance and hers.

* * *

Wei dropped Sakura and Syaoran off outside the warehouse where the dance was being held. Meiling and Ryuuten were already there waiting for them.

"Sakura!" Meiling waved. Sakura dragged Syaoran over through the mass of teens. The inside of the building was no less packed than the outside. Except for the stage and a line of tables selling refreshments the floor was covered in a crush of teenagers that ground together to the heavy beat of the music, appearing to jerk from one position to the next in the light of the strobes that flashed over and over in a hypnotic overload of the senses. Sakura had no choice but to cling to Syaoran in fear of being separated from him in the midst of the crowd. Meiling and Ryuuten had disappeared and Sakura doubted that they could find them in the crowd.

The music faded. The crowd calmed momentarily before the DJ announced, "Now, for some real talent. Here's Daidouji Tomoyo!" The crowd roared as gentle music began to pour out over the speakers and Tomoyo's voice clearly mellowed the crowd. Couples clung to each other and rocked to the music.

Sakura had not gone dancing with Syaoran before. He was good at it. It surprised her, though it made sense when she thought about it. Many formal dinners and events often included dancing. The Li's certainly would have forced him to entertain the daughters of any important people they felt like persuading. He would definitely have been trained for this.

Sakura look up towards the stage as Tomoyo's voice faded. Everyone seemed caught off guard by the sudden break in the middle of the song.

"Okay, that's enough of the old stuff. Time for something new." Tomoyo's eyes glared straight at Sakura. "Track seven." The DJ complied and the new song began to play.

_They say that I will dance and sing,  
For you I'd do most anything,  
Maybe once that could have been true,  
But what I really feel for you..._

The gentle classic Tomoyo style abruptly stopped and heavy bass began to thunder through the speakers.

_I am not a toy for you,  
A puppet who will dance for you  
Strings that say what I will do,  
Because I have feelings too._

Sakura could not even recognize the voice as Tomoyo. It was as harsh and grungy as the music. The crowd was whipped into a fervor. As suddenly as it had begun, the harshness faded and the light voice returned along with the lighter music to match.

_So, touch me and feel me,  
Come and know the real me.  
Hold me tight and kiss me,  
And when I'm gone, miss me._

Her voice took on an almost pleading tone as the speed began to increase. The crowd followed as if driven by her voice.

_I've always wanted you to,  
Give everything and be so true,  
To know me like I've known you,  
Love me as I've loved you too._

Couples ground together passionately. They held each other with lips locked. Some of the girls had tears snaking down their faces as they clung to their men as if they'd disappear if they relinquished their grasp.

Now, Tomoyo's voice changed again. Her pleading tone replaced with one of mourning. A sweet sadness began to fill the room.

_I have a smile on my face, but the truth be told,  
I am alone in the dark, and my hearts so cold,  
You're the light of my life and I want you to see,  
you brighten my day and bring warmth into me.  
My chest is so empty cause you have my heart,  
When you're not beside me, I'm being torn apart._

_You come talking to me and you're making my day,  
My hearts all aflutter and I've nothing to say.  
You stand there, You're waiting, but I'm so afraid.  
I open my mouth, but only silence is made.  
I had my great chance, you came and I blew it,  
I should never have hoped, I'm lost and I knew it._

It was amazing. Tomoyo's voice gripped the hearts of the crowd. Sakura could feel the hopelessness and despair of lost love as Tomoyo sang. Then the crowd was once again frenzied by the harsh and angry chorus.

_I am not a toy for you,  
A puppet who will dance for you  
Strings that say what I will do,  
Because I have feelings too._

_So, touch me and feel me,  
Come and know the real me.  
Hold me tight and kiss me,  
And when I'm gone, miss me._

_I've always wanted you to,  
Give everything and be so true,  
To know me like I've known you,  
Love me as I've loved you too._

Sakura became lost in the emotions the song evoked. It was so enthralling. It was impossible to resist the call. The song moved into the second verses in a mixture of bliss and anguish. The contrary emotions only fuelled the desires that filled the heavily beating hearts of the crowd.

_You knock on my door, it's a quarter to eight,  
'Come see a movie? Let's have a date'  
You take me to the theatre, then ask me to pay,  
and I'm so enchanted that I do it your way.  
At the end of the evening, I'm so full of bliss,  
You bring be back home and send me in with a kiss._

_My parents told me, you're not right for me  
You're just taking, not giving like you should be.  
They don't understand, they just don't know you,  
The feelings we have, they just have to be true.  
They can't stop my heart, and it's moving forward,  
You're the only one my heart is leading me toward._

Each beat of the music swayed the entire crowd. No person was unmoved by the sound of Tomoyo's voice.

_I am not a toy for you,  
A puppet who will dance for you  
Strings that say what I will do,  
Because I have feelings too._

_So, touch me and feel me,  
Come and know the real me.  
Hold me tight and kiss me,  
And when I'm gone, miss me._

_I've always wanted you to,  
Give everything and be so true,  
To know me like I've known you,  
Love me as I've loved you too._

It was an almost religious experience. It was a feeling of being connected to everyone in the crowd. The purpose didn't matter, just the feeling. You had to follow the music.

_You see me after school, and get me into your car,  
Drive up to lookout point, and it's not that far.  
"Baby I love you, let's be together today,"  
I am all yours and I let you have your way.  
We do it together in your cars backseat,  
This kind of closeness, it just can't be beat._

_You say to me that you've had enough,  
Feelings and love, you lied about that stuff,  
You took what you wanted, I had nothing left  
I am just a victim of your sexual theft.  
You played with my feelings, you left me to cry,  
You didn't even care that I wanted to die._

Bliss. Love. Contentment. Betrayal. Anguish. Revulsion. Pain. Excruciating agony.

_I am not a toy for you,  
A puppet who will dance for you  
strings that say what I will do,  
Because I have feelings too._

_You took me and led me astray,  
You touched me and had your way.  
You left when I begged you to stay,  
Crushing my heart, you walked away.._

_I had given, you didn't need to take,  
Everything I did all for your sake  
But everything you did was fake,  
My heart was a glass for you to break_

_So, stay away, and fear me,  
Don't go anywhere near me.  
That's the way it's gonna be,  
From now on this heart is free._

_Kiss me, and I'll kill you,  
Won't see me if I see you,  
I want you to know it too,  
The pain I feel because of you._

Sakura screamed as thick red blood splashed across her face. Ryuuten's body fell to the floor in front of her. She hadn't even realized that they'd been next to each other. Meiling's face was filled with such fear that Sakura almost didn't react in time when Meiling went to kick the boy in the head. She blocked Meiling's kick before it could kill Ryuuten. Screams of pain and fear filled the building.

Sakura didn't have a chance to figure out what was going on as a powerful pair of arms wrapped around her. She recognized that they belonged to Syaoran, but something was wrong. She was pulled roughly against his body. He breathed slowly and heavily beside her ear. His right hand grabbed her breast and began to squeeze and knead it painfully. His left rubbed forcefully between her legs and threatened to break through her clothing and enter her. His erection pushed uncomfortably against her back. It didn't matter that it was Syaoran. Sakura screamed.

_I will not let it happen; never ever again  
Close my heart to people; shut away the pain,  
I won't be a puppet, you can't pull my strings,  
you can't push me around saying beautiful things,  
I was down but not out, outlook blacker than black  
I will never forgive you and I'll get you back,_

_Revenge is a bitch, and that's what I'll be,  
I will tear out your heart, yes you will see  
The fruits of your labor, the pain that's in me  
I will keep coming, and you will never be free  
To take what you want then put me back on the shelf,  
I'll show you a babe in total control of herself._

The arms released her. She didn't have the strength to hold herself up. She fell to the ground and began to cry. All around her the sounds of pain echoed. Quiet whimpers. Begging. Crying. Screaming. Angry shouts. Grunting. Physically or sexually each person was being assaulted by their partner. Those who had come alone were taking out their feelings on whoever was around them.

The one person who hadn't been screaming cried out in pain. Syaoran was on the stage. Tomoyo was looking around in shock and bewilderment. A dark bruise was forming on her cheek.

Tomoyo looked scared. She had seen Syaoran like this once before. His eyes gazed at her with murderous intent. She trembled. She couldn't find the will to speak out against her attacker.

"If you had hurt her, she would have forgiven you," Syaoran growled. He made his sword materialize in his hand. "But you made me hurt her. You were warned." Tomoyo closed her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs. A loud metallic clash forestalled her impending death. Tomoyo cracked open her eyes to find a shining silver rapier keeping Li's blade millimeters away from her throat.

"You should be careful with that. You might hurt someone that doesn't belong to you," Eriol said playfully as he effortlessly forced Li's sword back. Li punched at Eriol with his off hand, but his arm was caught and he was thrown off the stage and into the crowd. "I think we should probably cut out early for your own safety," Eriol said as he helped Tomoyo up.

"I want to stay," Tomoyo said. She didn't even protest that Eriol was now holding her. After what she had just experienced, she wanted the comfort, even if it was from someone like him.

She recognized it as one of the things she had dreamed of. She had wanted Sakura to be treated like an object and be hurt as much as she felt hurt. All the other people were innocent bystanders; she hadn't wanted it to really happen, especially not to anyone other than Sakura. This was all her fault and she was going to see it through to the end, no matter what that end was. The chaos was too much for her. If it wasn't her singing, then something else must have been forcing the madness.

Tomoyo pushed away from Eriol, suddenly repulsed by the feeling of his touching her. He didn't try to stop her as she race over to the DJ's table. She could see him now. He was at least thirty, and he had a girl who couldn't have been even half his age pinned to the floor under him. His eyes were glassy and unfocused. Tomoyo couldn't stand by and let the man continue.

The girl was screaming for help and trying to escape as the man pulled at her dress and the collar tore. This gave her the leeway to pull free and she tried to crawl towards the mass of bodies a few feet away to escape. The DJ turned and grabbed her ankle, dragging her back towards him. Tomoyo took the opportunity to deliver a powerful kick between his legs from behind. The girl escaped but Tomoyo had no idea how far she'd get before someone else would try something. She looked at the DJ's equipment and pressed the stop button. She turned the volume all the way down. She even unplugged it. All her efforts were in vain. The music wouldn't stop.

"Only Sakura can stop it," Eriol said to her, "You know that don't you?"

"This has to stop," Tomoyo slammed her fists down onto the equipment.

Eriol pulled her away from the table as Syaoran's sword crashed through it. Tomoyo screamed in fear, but Syaoran suddenly slumped to the ground. An even more fearsome Meiling had been behind him. She struck him over and over and over. All the sound stopped. Everyone in the crowd looked around in stunned silence except for Meiling who was still hitting the unconscious body of Syaoran and crying.


	11. Silence

**AN:** I'm really, really really sorry about the long wait (except to the person who favved the story yesterday, you barely had to wait at all). I had many delays, not the least of which was a complete hard drive failure (Luckily, I make backups so I didn't lose the story itself.)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank dark mirth for the beta reading services he has offered. Because of his suggestions, and the unweildy number of languages present in this arc of the storyline, I have cut out the 'nihonglish' and rewritten everything to use pure english, except when a japanese person is actually speaking and theres no acceptable english translation (like Sakura useing honorrifics like san, chan, sama, etc...). The entire sotry has also been edited to break up some of those unweildy sentences that looked like paragraphs, improve the style, and I have even inserted a few scenes where events were glossed over. In otherwords, the entire story has been reedited. If you really want to you can read it all again, but the changes do not affect anything major, so if you choose not to go back it will not affect your understanding of the story.

**CH11: Silence**

* * *

Before the dance started, Tomoyo had been there early to set up for her act. She was not the only one who had needed to arrive early. Eriol, seemingly uninterested in the microphones and volume controls offered to give Tomoyo's music to the disc jockey. Tomoyo was alert for anything that he might do, so he waited until she had turned away before he slipped a small, indigo, square of paper under the label of the case. It had Clow's magic circle drawn on it. Now, anyone searching for a magical aura would easily notice the disc, but no one would suspect until it was too late.

"This is for Daidouji Tomoyo's performance," he said as he handed the disc to the DJ, "I am quite fond of the new song that she wrote. It is quite compelling."

"Thanks, dude." The man's brightly-died, balding Mohawk and flamboyant, tropical-print shirt were bad enough. Eriol almost shuddered at the man's attempts to sound hip, but his smile never faltered.

"I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it as well." Eriol turned to leave, chuckling at his little pun that the man would probably never understand.

Eriol glanced around. A group of boys, younger than Tomoyo, were setting up tables by the wall. Girls were laying out tablecloths and mixing up punch on the already raised tables. Eriol strode across the warehouse floor and helped a pair of boys flip a table over.

"Thanks," the smaller of the two said. He was perspiring and his face was bright red from the exertion. His light build told Eriol that he was not a person who exerted themselves often.

"There's plenty more," The boy's partner said jokingly.

"Then it will be my pleasure to help," Eriol replied as he grabbed the end of a folded table and helped to erect it. The entire wall was quickly lined with the tables. The two boys, job now done, went to lean against the wall and hang out watching the singers warm up.

Eriol did not join them. Instead, he went to offer his services to the girls who were filling bowls with punch and chips. They were more than happy to receive his help. Eriol could not help but notice that Tomoyo was watching him. He was sure that it was not out of jealousy. He winked at her. He knew that she suspected that he was up to something. She didn't realize that she was already obsessing over him, even though she claimed to hate him. The girls he was helping, however, were completely enthralled by his European wit and attractive facade. They crowded around him, giving him perfect cover for when he added an extra ingredient to a bowl of punch from a carved silver flask. The clear odorless liquid went undetected. He did the same to two other bowls of punch.

Everything was prepared now. There would be complications, but he would have to deal with those as they arose. It was getting harder to see clearly what Sakura and Syaoran would do.

The guests were arriving now. Eriol went up onto the stage and met Tomoyo behind the curtain as the DJ began to play music that was surprisingly popular. Tomoyo made no effort to acknowledge his presence, but she had given up trying to run. Things would be easier for him like this.

"There's only a few performers before you. We should dance while we have the chance." Eriol took Tomoyo's hand and kissed it as he invited her to descend into the thin crowd that had gathered. He felt her shiver at his touch. "If we don't dance, it won't count as a date." he whispered, "If you don't at least try, you'll never get rid of me."

"I suppose you won't count anything as a complete date if we're not married at the end of it," Tomoyo said sarcastically.

"Are you sure that you can't see the future?" Eriol asked with a chuckle. The look in her eyes was like that of a deer caught in the headlights. "It's a joke," he said, calming her momentarily, "That's the second date."

"Too bad you promised to leave me alone after the first." Tomoyo marched mechanically down to the dance floor with her tormentor, eager to fulfill whatever would make him consider the outing a date, just so that he would leave her alone.

Eriol didn't rebuke her argument. He placed his left hand on her hip and grabbed her left hand with his right. The first band had finished preparing and now it started to play. Bass and electric guitars played alongside a set of drums and filled the warehouse with the sounds of a heavy metal waltz. Tomoyo had heard of this style before, but she had never bothered to listen to it.

The heavy beats and common waltz timing made the song easy to dance to. Tomoyo could barely keep up as Eriol's footsteps led her swirling through the people. He avoided everyone as he danced with practiced expertise. He even avoided her feet when she purposely tried to step on his toes. They flew across the dance floor majestically. A circle formed, watching their movements until the last beat of the song faded.

Tomoyo was breathing heavily. Her hands grasped Eriol's neck as his arm supported her back. People were clapping. She looked at Eriol. A light sheen of sweat glistened on his brow, but he did not seem to have been terribly exhausted by the exertion. Tomoyo took a second look. He seemed to be genuinely smiling. He was always smiling, but this time it did not seem like it was hiding something. The moment ended when she pulled away.

"Satisfied?" she asked flippantly. Her heart was pounding and she was having trouble catching her breath. "I need to rest." She could not perform if she did not calm down. There was only one more act before hers. They were setting up while the DJ played more music.

"I'm looking forward to it," Eriol replied. His usual smile now covered whatever emotions he may have let appear during the dance. "Do your best," he called as Tomoyo stalked away, pushing her way through the crowds towards the stage. The room was getting fairly packed now.

Eriol went in a different direction. There was work to do. He almost seemed to glide through the crowd as he found spaces to move through as soon as they appeared. He reached the end of the building and leaned against the wall next to a Caucasian boy who looked to be a year or two older than Eriol seemed to be. He was dressed in white and wore a silver crucifix on a chain around his neck. He did not even notice Eriol leaning beside him.

"They are interesting to watch aren't they," Eriol said, speaking in fluent Latin.

The boy whipped around and grasped his crucifix. "Who are you?" he asked impolitely.

"Is it not customary to give your own name first? After all, one might think it strange if I just addressed you as Michael before you told me."

In response to this, Michael touched a red orb that adorned a piercing in his right ear. It began to glow with a faint magical aura.

"If you continue along this path, you are only going to hurt someone. It would be better if you left now." Eriol warned.

"You will not hinder my duty," the boy said, "you will be the one to leave if you value your life."

"That is how it is," Eriol pondered sagely for a moment. "I suppose we will just have to hope that we do not get in each other's way then." He gave Michael a fake smile and held out his hand. "This is how you say goodbye in Europe isn't it?"

Michael looked at Eriol suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded and took Eriol's hand. The red jewel in his ear sparked and then it shattered. All that remained of it was a pool of red liquid that stained the white shoulder of Michael's suit.

Eriol chuckled, "I suppose you can't interfere now, can you?" As he had suspected, once he had flooded Michael with his aura, the jewel had rejected him. The Templar were fools. They hadn't been able to stop him five hundred years ago, and they couldn't stop him now, even if they had changed over the years.

Michael turned away from him and pushed violently through the crowd to the exit.

Eriol crouched down. A drop of the destroyed jewel had landed on the floor. Eriol touched it and it formed into a sphere. Instead of being red, it was now a deep violet. Tomoyo would love it once it was mounted. She would never guess its true purpose. He placed the jewel into his pocket and headed towards the stage. The fun would be starting soon.

Eriol passed behind the curtain and met with Tomoyo again.

"I hope that you have recovered enough," Eriol said, "there is a big crowd and they're waiting for you." The band that had been playing came behind the curtain now and collapsed onto some chairs.

Tomoyo made to stand up. Without her asking or desiring it, Eriol grabbed her hand and helped her gallantly. She wondered what his motives could possibly be. Tomoyo could always read people so easily, but he was an anomaly. She couldn't understand him at all, and that scared her almost as much as his magic.

Tomoyo shook the thoughts out of her head and walked onto the stage. The DJ announced her and then started to play her first song. Her voice was clear and beautiful, despite the disturbing feeling of having Eriol's eyes watch her from the shadows. For now, he just had to be another fan. A creepy, stalking, ass of a fan. She could deal with that.

Then, she stopped. She could deal with Eriol, but this was too much. Sakura was here and she was wearing one of the dresses that Tomoyo had made. She could continue singing and the crowd would love it, but it wouldn't feel right. These words weren't for her. She had something special for Sakura. Everyone else had gone silent as well. They were looking at her. Tomoyo had to give them something, and it would blow them away. Only Eriol had heard her new song in its entirety. Now it was time to show Sakura the depths of her feelings, her pain, and most of all, her vengeance.

"Okay, that's enough of the old stuff. Time for something new." Tomoyo's eyes glared straight at Sakura. "Track seven." The DJ, after a moment's hesitation at the irregularity, complied and the new song began to play. Tomoyo sang with all of her heart. Each word was filled with stinging emotions. She closed her eyes. To her, there was only one person in the entire building. It was just her and Sakura and she was expressing all the pain and hurt and love that she had felt.

She finished and the screams buffeted her like a raging storm. The room was in a state of disarray. People were fighting. Others were forcing themselves on each other. The majority were just helpless victims. One scream pierced her ears above all others. She couldn't see Sakura anywhere. She immediately deduced that it must be more of Eriol's magic.

Before she could turn and ask him, Syaoran had climbed up onto the stage. He was breathing heavily and glared angrily at her before suddenly swinging his fist at her. He struck her in the face. Tomoyo stumbled backwards, staring in shock at what was happening. She fell to the floor of the stage.

Syaoran stood menacingly over her. Tomoyo felt fear like she had only felt once before. She had once seen Syaoran gaze at her with murderous intent, but it had been a dream he had inflicted on her while he had destroyed her collection of Sakura movies. This was real and his eyes told her that he meant to kill her. She trembled in fear. Her body wouldn't respond while under his gaze. She could not even find the will to beg him to stop.

"If you had hurt her, she would have forgiven you," Syaoran's sunken features from his drug problems made him look ghastly and ghoul-like. He grasped his pendant and transformed it into a sword. "You made me hurt her. You were warned." Syaoran drew back his sword.

Eriol knew it was time to act. He removed his belt. It stiffened and elongated into a golden staff topped with a symbol of the sun. "Sword," Eriol said. The staff transformed into a silver-bladed rapier with a golden pommel and wire cross guard which was woven in the form of Clow's magic circle.

Eriol stepped forward as Tomoyo screamed. He was just in time to stop Syaoran's blade before it could strike Tomoyo.

"You should be careful with that," Eriol said playfully. He easily forced Syaoran's blade away from Tomoyo's throat. "You might hurt someone who doesn't belong to you." Eriol and Syaoran glared at each other for a brief moment before Syaoran tried to break the blade lock by punching towards Eriol's face.

Syaoran's impaired movements were too slow. His injured arm was caught and he cursed in pain as he was thrown from the stage.

"I think we should cut out early for your own safety." Eriol said gently as he helped her up. She was still trembling in fear, so Eriol pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"I want to stay." she told him. She didn't protest the fact that he was holding her. A minute ago, she would have agreed that they needed to escape the chaos, but for some reason, his touch comforted her. She needed to feel it. This was the only way she would have the courage to fix what had happened.

She didn't know what had gone on exactly, but she knew that in some way, she was partially to blame. After a few moments, she realized what it was. She had wanted Sakura to feel like she had, to understand her pain. This wasn't exactly what she had envisioned at the time, but Tomoyo was sure that it was the manifestation of it. Her guilt only shored up her resolve to stay and help. She had been the catalyst for so many people's pain. She had to see it though, no matter how it would end for her.

Eriol allowed Tomoyo to free herself from him. The first steps of her healing had begun and now she had to work out some of her feelings on her own. There was more work to be done. Someone had called the police and they would be arriving shortly.

Eriol leapt into the crowd, landing on the head of a particularly violent boy. His date was huddled on the ground crying. Their relationship would never be repaired, but at least the boy hadn't beaten her to death. He couldn't stay and help though. Many people were about to be abused beyond any human's ability to endure.

One girl in extremely dark and provocative clothing had her boyfriend up against the wall. One arm was pressed heavily against his neck, but he did not struggle because the other held a switchblade against his stomach. There were teeth marks on his face that were bleeding. Eriol knocked the girl's knife away and moved on.

Eriol saved several more of the most unfortunate people before he returned to Tomoyo. She was playing with the DJ's equipment in a futile effort to stop the music.

"Only Sakura can stop it," Eriol told Tomoyo, "you know that don't you?"

"This has to stop," Tomoyo slammed her fists into the equipment, both as an expression of her feelings and as an attempt to prove Eriol's words wrong.

Eriol grabbed Tomoyo. He pulled her away just in time to save her from Syaoran's sword which shattered the table that the equipment had been on. He held her tightly and she screamed in fear. Eriol did not bother moving again.

An enraged Meiling came from behind Syaoran and struck him in the back of his head, instantly knocking him out. Meiling hit him over and over again, even though he was defenseless and unconscious.

* * *

Sakura just wanted all the screams to stop. She had never been good with horror movies, or anything else that was scary. This was like a living nightmare for her. She took out the silent card and screamed.

"Everyone be QUIET!"

* * *

Even when Sakura transformed the silent card and broke the spell, Meiling continued to hit Syaoran.

"Stop it!" Tomoyo stepped in between Meiling and Syaoran. "Enough people have been hurt tonight, so please..."

"Sorry..." Meiling said without a hint of remorse. She turned and headed towards the exit.

"Meiling!" Ryuuten pushed his way through the crowd to where Syaoran was laying unconscious. Meiling ignored him and continued on her way.

"It's time to go." Eriol whispered authoritatively to Tomoyo. She didn't get a chance to protest as she was pulled into the crowd.

Moments later, Sakura pushed through the people from the same direction Ryuuten had come from.

"Syaoran!" She exclaimed when she saw him on the ground. Blood was pooling from his nose. Sakura tore a strip of fabric from her dress and used it to staunch the bleeding. His nose twisted unnaturally under the pressure.

Sirens blared. A stream of cops rushed into the warehouse. They got to their task efficiently. One by one, people were led away. Peoples names and phone numbers were taken and the injured were transported to hospitals.

* * *

Luckily, Syaoran's nose wasn't broken. The cartilage had been torn and was the cause of his increased nasal mobility. Sakura had told the hospital staff not to give him any opiates and to use restraints on him. She didn't know how he would act when he woke up.

The doctors left a cup with some paracetamol pills that he could take. They explained to Sakura that it was not derived from opium like methadone or morphine, but was the chemical para-acetylaminophenol, commonly known to most people as acetaminophen or Tylenol.

When Syaoran awoke, he wasted no time in swallowing the pills. The pain from his injuries dulled, but the pain in his shoulder remained. He tried asking the doctors for more effective medication, but they could not safely give him a higher dose. They offered him prescription NSAIDs instead, refusing to give him any opiates.

He was angry at first, but could do nothing but shout out his frustrations because of the restraints. Because Syaoran was having so much trouble acting civilly, Sakura did her best to ignore him and watch television.

"A riot occurred during an innocent teen dance at a warehouse downtown," a news anchor on the television was saying, "Police were called to the scene when many of the people attending the event became delirious. Many of them exhibited violent symptoms. Early reports suggest that someone spiked the punch with tropane alkaloids, possibly from the plant known as deadly nightshade."

Sakura knew this was a lie. Syaoran had been affected and they hadn't had any punch at the party.

"It was the guy who was with Tomoyo," Syaoran said angrily, "he did everything."

"Who was it?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know," Syaoran said irritably, "but his magic was stronger than mine."

* * *

Eriol refused to leave Tomoyo's room until she calmed down. He had, of course, politely explained to her how upset he was that their date had been interrupted, but Tomoyo would hear none of it. She wouldn't even look at him.

The experience had been too terrifying for her. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she lay on her bed, trying to hide her tears in her pillow. Eriol was gently stroking her hair. Every time he touched her, she wanted to scream at him and tell him it was all his fault.

"You shouldn't be afraid of him. He's not as strong as Sakura," Eriol said.

Tomoyo didn't answer.

Eriol stopped stroking her hair. Tomoyo felt the gentle tugs of a braid being created. Laishi used to braid her hair when she was upset. The repetition of the weaving was soothing. By the time the braid was finished, she had stopped crying. She turned to say something, but he was gone. The only sign that he had been there at all was an indigo ribbon that had been woven into her hair. The trailing end of the ribbon had a magic circle drawn on it and was fastened to the end of the braid with a small purple bead on a silver string. Tomoyo tugged at the ornament. It didn't come out. 'Just perfect,' she thought. It was exactly what she had needed to complete her outfit and it was only a few hours too late.


	12. Reluctance

**CH12: Reluctance**

* * *

"It's been a whole week!" Jade whined. She had tried everything she could think of, but not one attempt to pass the guards' test had been successful. She had studied the information binder over, and over again, scrutinizing every minute detail, but there was nothing that she could find in it that she had not been doing. "How did you get in on the first day?" She asked Alex, hoping that he'd divulge his method of entry.

Alex glanced up from his work and pensively stared out the window that looked over the streets of Beijing from high above. "That's a secret," he finally said, winking furtively.

"I've read the guidelines backwards and forwards. I've practically memorized it down to the punctuation. What am I missing?" She leaned closer to him, giving him a mournful puppy dog look in hopes of breaking down his defenses.

"Looks, charm, style... Basically, everything I have," Alex deflected with a joke. Jade pouted unhappily. She thought that Alex was getting back at her for the few minor practical jokes she had played on him.

"Deed you vant to ve lyeft alone?" Alexei asked in his strongly Russian-accented voice, noticing their intimate stance. He was Alex's roommate for the trip. He was reclining on his bed and studying some photos he had taken. "I could alvays go and talk to Yosyef. He might find thees eenteresting."

Jade's eyes widened in realization and then she glanced demurely at Alexei."I think me and Alex could do with a little alone time," she said flatly.

"... Yes, I go now..." Alexei looked uncomfortable as Jade watched him. He took his papers and left Jade and Alex alone.

"It's just you and me now. We both know you haven't even looked at the binder, so spill," Jade demanded.

Alex looked around to make sure that no one else could be listening. When he was satisfied that they were truly alone, he rolled up the sleeve on his right arm. "The eye of Ra, overlaid on a pyramid. It's the mark of a magi," Alex explained seriously. "The magi are a secret society dedicated to keeping certain magical artifacts safe. I was made the leader of the magi when I was a kid because of the manacle - at least in name. The real leader is the man who trained me and taught me how to use it. They were really strict, so I learned my manners pretty fast."

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Jade examined his tattoo. "So what was I doing wrong?"

"As foreign guests in the Forbidden City, we are actually lower than the servants. You keep looking the guards in the eye. You should watch their feet instead. It shows respect, and you can tell by the way they hold their weight if they're going to attack or not."

* * *

Now that he was awake, there was no reason not to release Syaoran from the hospital. He was just waiting for the doctors to finish the paperwork. He looked over at Sakura. He couldn't resist reaching out to touch her hand. At the moment of contact, Sakura flinched violently away from him. He hadn't expected that.

At first, he felt angry. Because of Tomoyo and the guy she was with, he had been forced to do something unforgivable to Sakura. That anger quickly turned to self loathing. It was his weakness that was at fault. He should have been strong enough to resist the spell in Tomoyo's song. He would have been strong enough if not for his addiction - but then that was just another sign of his weakness.

"Sakura," he tried to blink away the tears that were forming in his eyes. More weakness, "I'm sorry."

Sakura's eyes softened. "I didn't mean to..." She knew he had been under the influence of the spell, but she couldn't shake the feeling of him grabbing her like he did. She knew he would never do anything like that on his own. She reached out to take his hand. Her hand was trembling.

"You don't have to force yourself," Syaoran said sadly. He knew he deserved it. He'd already tainted her enough. The things he had wanted to do to her body - still wanted to do - were despicable. He couldn't allow himself to fail again.

"It's what I want to do. What happened there scared me, but you're not the person you were then." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Syaoran held her hand tightly, afraid that if he ever let go, he'd lose her forever.

"I'm not ready yet," he admitted. "When we get back, you should handcuff me again."

* * *

Meiling sat on her futon and waited alertly. She could not sleep. There was a knock at the entrance. She got up and stealthily crept down the dark stairs. Peeking discretely through the glass, she saw Sakura standing outside, alone.

Meiling was glad that it wasn't Ryuuten again. He had come by three times since the dance, but she couldn't face him. She had lost control and hurt both him and Syaoran. It wasn't what she was supposed to teach him, but he shouldn't have tried to kiss her when he had known perfectly well that they were just supposed to get to know each other.

Sakura knocked again and Meiling let her into the building. Meiling led her upstairs and Sakura stood in the middle of Meiling's room dumbly for a few seconds before asking, "Do you mind if I stay here for the night?" Last year she would have gone to Tomoyo's house, but that wasn't an option anymore. "I need some time away from him."

Meiling nodded and sat down on the futon again. She gestured for Sakura to join her. "Where's Syaoran?" she asked.

"He's handcuffed to his bed. I just couldn't stay with him tonight." Sakura's eyelids drooped sadly as she glanced sullenly at the floor.

"What happened to you to at the dance?" Meiling asked, carefully keeping her tone neutral. She wasn't used to this sort of thing. She didn't know what the right way to act was, but decided that it was best to listen to Sakura's problems.

"I know it wasn't his fault..." Sakura started apprehensively, "He was being controlled like everyone else, but every time he moves to touch me, I'm afraid."

"What is there to be afraid of?" Meiling asked indignantly.

"Nothing!" Sakura replied confidently, "But, I can't help it."

"What did he do that you haven't done before? What scared you?" Meiling once again tried to be caring in response to Sakura's suffering.

"It wasn't what he did. I... didn't really mind that much," Sakura blushed and hugged a cushion to her face. "It just wasn't him. It was like someone else was touching me using his body. I'm afraid of what I'll see next time, that I'll look into his eyes and it won't be him looking back at me."

"You broke the spell already, so there's nothing to be afraid of." Meiling placed a reassuring hand on Sakura's forearm.

"I know that!" Sakura snapped. "I just want to feel safe again. The night I went looking for him because he hadn't come back from looking for me, he saved me. He killed three men, but I had no problem petting him the next time I saw him. He was a bastard sometimes, but he always made me feel safe, always protected me. This time... He was the one hurting me."

"You didn't run away when he was controlled by his drug cravings and tried to hit you. What makes this different?"

"I don't know! What pisses me off most was that he didn't care! He didn't beg, he didn't try again, he just gave up after the first try." It made her feel like she wasn't worth fighting for.

"What did you expect? He loves you, but you're afraid of him. What would you do if it was the other way around?"

"I'd keep trying... I wouldn't ever give up."

"No. That's what you want him to do. You would be hurt. You'd run to your friends and cry, and then you'd wait until he stopped being afraid. You wouldn't risk scaring him away more because that one rejection was too painful to bear, and you couldn't take another one. Suck it up, get over yourself and go to him." Meiling encouraged Sakura more harshly than she had intended.

"But what if-" Sakura whimpered, shrinking back from Meiling.

"If you're that afraid of what he might do, then just hop on and ride him like a horse before he gets a chance to try anything. He's tied up now anyways, and he won't complain." Meiling said spitefully.

Sakura stared at Meiling in shock. It was not the advice that she had been expecting. She was used to getting advice from Tomoyo, who would recommend solving the problem through some form of diplomacy, but Meiling was confrontational. Her approach would probably work, but Sakura wasn't about to take that bit of advice. Syaoran had already discussed it with her. He wanted to wait and so did she. She wasn't going to force him into it to fix her own emotional problem.

Sakura couldn't brood over not having advice from Tomoyo instead of Meiling. Tomoyo had chosen to end their friendship. It upset her, but she had learned to live with Tomoyo's anger. One day, maybe the hatred Tomoyo felt would dissipate and they could be friends again, but for now, Sakura could only do her best to cling to the friends she still had.

"So what happened between you and Laishi-san?" Sakura changed the subject.

"I warned him that we were just going as friends," Meiling answered. "It took a bit of convincing though."

"Remind me to never disagree with you on anything," Sakura said as she remembered the feeling of blood spattering onto her face. Suddenly, Meiling became the last person she wanted to discuss problems with and she decided to go to sleep.

* * *

A figure dressed in black climbed over the wall of the Forbidden City. The guards, though vigilant, did not see her movements. It was too easy to sneak into the treasury by timing her movements just right. They hadn't noticed her before when she had scoped out the place. They wouldn't catch her tonight either.

The treasury was full of valuable objects. Some were statues of gold. Some were jade idols. Some were simply gemstones or coins. None of those interested her. Sitting in a velvet lined box was the object she had come for. For the most part, it looked like a block of wood that had been painted red, but inside that block was a jade plate - the imperial seal.

The box was just sitting there. No cameras. No laser grid. No guards. It almost seemed too easy. She reached out and grabbed it. She should have known better. A ring of red energy appeared out of thin air. It surrounded her wrist and refused to release her. The door was closing on its own.

"Yu mo gui gwaai fie di jao." The thief held a dried salamander over the ring. The salamander began to glow a bright green. As she continued chanting, the glow of the salamander tried to overpower the red ring that held her. It wasn't working. The door finished closing with a loud thud. The panels in the walls spun, revealing guards that had remained hidden behind them.

"Looks like I have to do this the hard way," the thief sighed.

* * *

A loud explosion rocked the city of Beijing. The hotel that the Li expedition was staying in was close enough that all the students could see the fire that blazed in the center of the Forbidden City.

"I wonder what happen," Si Quan said to Jade, her roommate.

"It looks pretty bad," Jade replied. "I hope no one was hurt."

"They will no allow us to return," Si Quan said sadly. "We were learning much."

"I didn't even get past the gate," Jade sighed and lightly kicked the carpet.

"You may help Alex. He did find many thing."

"I'd rather have something of my own to work on," Jade replied.

* * *

The thief hid in an alley. It had been a close call. If things had been any more difficult, she would have been captured. Removing the binding spell had been hard enough. Normal means had not worked.

First, she had needed to shape shift to escape the binding spell. Next she had had to blow up the building, and live through the blast. After healing her injuries, she had to use super speed to escape the guards. It was way too much. All that magic was traceable. Luckily, she had an alibi.

Using the snake talisman, she snuck around to the back of the hotel. Jade was there waiting for her.

"We're good with the alibi?"

"Half the hotel knows that I was inside when you blew everything up. What were you thinking?"

"That I didn't want to get caught," the thief said, removing her mask to reveal that she was an exact duplicate of Jade.

"Neither do I." Jade replied, revealing half of the tiger talisman. "So let's get back together before everyone finds out that I have an evil twin.

The thief took out her own half of the talisman and joined it to Jade's half. After a flash of light, there was only one Jade who stood there with both the tiger talisman and the imperial seal.

* * *

Sakura woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She was cuddled up to Meiling in the much too small bed.

"Moshi-moshi..." she said, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"I just wanted to let you know that we're coming back a little early. There was a bit of a disturbance last night," her father told her.

"Hoee...?" Sakura asked, not yet awake enough to process what was being said.

"I'll explain everything later. The plane's landing in an hour if you want to join me for breakfast."

"Okay, dad. I'll see you soon." She lay back down and flipped her phone closed. A minute later, it began to ring again.

Sakura was about to fall back asleep when her phone rang again."I'll see you soon, don't sleep through breakfast." It was a text message from her father.

"What's going on?" Meiling was awake now. Unlike Sakura, she looked alert and ready to start the day.

"My dad's coming home early. Something big happened."

"How big?" Meiling asked.

"I don't know," Sakura said. "It was big enough to cancel the next week of exploration, but not enough for him to call immediately." Sakura stretched. She had slept a lot more than usual. The elders would probably scold her because she had skipped the morning lessons. She wasn't in the mood for it.

* * *

Sakura sat in a private booth at a fancy restaurant. Even this early in the morning, all the waiters were wearing fancy tuxedos and carrying food on gilded gold trays. The furniture was large, darkly-stained wood pieces that were carved with floral patterns. The walls were sectioned off by tapestries surrounded with velour drapes. It was the most expensive place that Syaoran had ever taken her and she did not know why it had occurred to her that she should invite her father to eat there.

When Fujitaka arrived, he looked as notably uncomfortable in the setting as Sakura had felt the first time she had come here.

"This place seems a bit expensive." Fujitaka gazed around at the décor, still standing.

"I'll pay," Sakura told him. "I was the one who suggested we come here - I have a lot of money saved up thanks to the allowance they're giving me."

"If you are sure." Fujitaka apprehensively sat down.

"Syaoran brought me here a few times. The food is really good."

Fujitaka picked up a menu and scanned the list of food. "There aren't any prices listed."

"I don't really know what it costs either. Syaoran always paid for everything." Sakura briefly wondered if Wei had thought to unlock him long enough to use the washroom.

They sat in silence as Fujitaka perused the menu. Sakura spent the time looking at the tapestries. The one directly ahead of her depicted a battlefield. In the foreground were many Chinese soldiers. Most of them wielded pudao, the traditional Chinese polearms, though some wielded dao, swords with curved blades that were still the standard for Chinese swords. They stood before the gates of a large castle with a lone defender. It seemed like insurmountable odds if one did not count the snaking body of the dragon that dipped in and out of the clouds above the mansion. The dragon's head breathed a wall of flames that kept the siege at bay.

"The usual?" A waiter's voice pulled Sakura's attention away from the tapestry. She stared blankly at the waiter for a moment.

"Yes please," she said and the waiter immediately left to convey her order to the kitchen. It seemed strange to her that there would be a usual breakfast for her. The few times that she had eaten at this particular restaurant, it had been for lunch or dinner. She wondered what sort of meal she would be getting.

"Weren't you going to order?" Sakura asked her father.

"I already did," Fujitaka chuckled, "You were too busy examining the tapestry to notice."

"I'm sorry. Was I ignoring you?"

"Not at all. I find these tapestries to be quite fascinating myself. They really should be in a museum instead of a restaurant. Some of them are at least five hundred years old by the look of them. They must be well cared for here."

"Something about that one seems familiar to me, though," Sakura nodded towards the one she had been examining. "I haven't sat in this booth before though."

"It is a rather striking image. The five toed dragon turning upon the emperors soldiers at the command of a single man. It's a classic example of triumph over insurmountable odds."

"I thought that the dragon was on the man's side the whole time."

"Traditionally in Chinese mythology, the five toed dragon is the imperial dragon that serves the emperor. Either that man is the emperor and his troops have turned against him, or more likely, he is another man who is able to control the imperial dragon, perhaps even a depiction of the mandate of heaven passing on to a new ruler."

"Speaking of the emperor, did you learn anything interesting at the Forbidden City?" Sakura asked, finally broaching the subject that was the purpose of their breakfast.

"It was an enlightening experience," Fujitaka replied, "Though the gem on the Emperor's scepter was rather bright. I thought that he might be planning on blinding me with it, the way he kept waving it in front of me. I don't think he got the reaction he was hoping for."

"You aren't in trouble are you?" Sakura asked worriedly. She doubted it. If he had truly angered the emperor, he probably would not have returned at all.

"No, the emperor was quite hospitable. He made sure we had everything we needed until last night - someone broke into the treasury. They blew up the entire building. We were asked to return home until --"

"Just a minute," Sakura cut him off and took out her phone, dialing Syaoran's room.

"Li here."

"Syaoran, it's me." Fujitaka watched with concern furrowing his brow as Sakura was consulting with Syaoran. The connection to Syaoran was obvious; he was the funder of the expedition after all.

"Think you could - "

"I'm at breakfast with my dad. He just told me that someone blew up the Emperor's treasury."

"Did they take anything?"

"Was anything taken?" Sakura repeated Syaoran's question to her father. She held out the phone so Syaoran would hear the answer.

"We don't know, we never got a chance to ask questions," Fujitaka responded. "They sent us all to the plane a few minutes after it happened." There was something definitely off about the situation. He had assumed that the Emperor's men had already contacted the Lis since the plane had been ready for them.

"I'll call you back," Syaoran said to Sakura and hung up.

"What was that about?" Fujitaka asked. Sakura was acting strangely. Perhaps she also noticed the odd way in which the incident was handled.

"The Emperor is probably the only person in the country with as much influence as the Li clan does. If he starts moving without consulting us, things could get... uncomfortable." Sakura did not really know what would happen if the two forces clashed.

The word 'us' struck Fujitaka. She was not yet married to Syaoran, yet she already considered herself part of his family. He could still recall her begging him to cancel the engagement, but now she acted like her relationship with Syaoran was destined to be and her first thought upon hearing that there was trouble was to call Syaoran and inform him. He was more uncomfortable than ever with the current arrangement.

"I am sure that the Emperor just wants to keep things as quiet as possible. It would look bad if word spread that something valuable had been stolen from him." Fujitaka assured her, "Nothing bad will happen."

* * *

Jade stood in the middle of the thickest part of the woods in the park. It was the most private place she could find. If any of the others saw what she had with her, they would know who had broken into the treasury of the Forbidden City. She couldn't let anyone know.

Jade's phone rang.

"Hello," Jade said. No name or number was displayed to tell her who was calling.

"A couple hours ago, I was woken up and told that our satellites detected an explosion. Please tell me that you got the item." A gruff, exasperated male voice said.

"I got it. The jade seal of the emperor that supposedly summons one of Shendu's cousins." Jade bragged.

"We're sending a courier to take it - and everything else you took - back to the Section Thirteen vault."

"Everything else I took?" Jade asked innocently as she withdrew a talisman from her pocket.

"All twelve of them." The man sighed.

"Okay... whatever. I'll-" Jade grunted after someone pushed her to the ground, making her drop the emperor's seal. A large silver crucifix dangled in front of her face as her attacker knelt down to pick up the seal.

"I'll be taking this," he said as he grabbed it.

Jade wasn't going to take this lying down. She leapt to her feet and took out a dried puffer fish and pointed it at the guy. "I have seven words for you. Yu mo gui gwaai fie di jao!" A powerful shot of energy burst from the mouth of the fish. When it struck the sparkling white of the guy's clothes, the energy curved and shot off into the sky. She tried again. The energy was deflected into the trees.

"I was hoping that you would have given it up quietly. I take no pleasure in the suffering of others."

"You don't know what you're missing." Jade pointed the fish at the ground and fired. The ground became like liquid and the guy immediately sunk up to his neck. "If you give that back, I might consider helping you out."

"No need. I have all the help I need-

"_And he said, 'Come.' And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, 'Lord, save me.' And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, 'O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?'_" Immediately he began to rise up. The dirt and mud dropped from his clothes like water rolling off a sheet of glass.

Jade was beginning to worry. This was a tough opponent. She would have run, but he still had the seal. Since her Chi attacks did not seem to work against him, she decided to try the talismans. She wanted to use the dragon talisman, but its effects would surely be recognized. She took hold of the pig talisman and fired heat beams from her eyes. Like the chi blasts, the heat rays just bounced off of him. Next, she tried the ox. Jade swung a super-powered fist at the man.

"Shit!" She swore when her hand shattered upon the impact with his chest. He was unfazed. Blood dripped from her hand where the bones were now sticking out. The pain weakened her and she fell to her knees clutching her injured hand. She reached into her pocket for the horse. In a few moments, her hand had regained its form, but by then, her assailant was right in front of her and had his hand resting gently upon her head.

"_And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:__ Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands,_" he said. Jade gasped for air. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She was bathed in a white glow that covered her, penetrated her, and consumed her. Her magical energy was forced out of her until none remained.

He let her go.

"You won't get away with this," Jade gasped weakly. She could barely hold herself up. "Yu... Mo... Gui... Gwaai... Fie... Di... Jao..." She couldn't feel the chi energy flowing. She couldn't see it either. She couldn't see much actually, her vision was blurring. She knew his spell must have done something to her. She had to heal it fast. She reached for the talismans, but all that her hand found was a pile of dust.


	13. Standoff

AN: Sorry for the wait. I recently became an immortal on a MUD called redemption (www dot redemptionmud dot com), got an iPod touch (and downloaded a gajillion games for it), and various other things that have taken up my time. I've had this chapter ready to go for almost 2 weeks now and just never got around to makeing the changes and uploading it. I profusely apologize and I hope the next chapter will come about in a more timely fashion. If anyone worries that this is gettign too crossovery, this is in fact the major chapter having to do with the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon and most of the charactes (except jade) will disappear completely after the next chapter. Likewise, Alex O'Conell will have a similarly crossovery chapter at some undetermined point in the future where his purpose for being in the story will be revealed. and for anyone thinking of quick resolutions to problems, the horse will be last. I think i've done more than enough exposition on the future, so enjoy the present chapter...

**Chapter 13: Stand off**

* * *

The waiter returned with the food. A plate with an omelet and diced exotic fruits was placed before Fujitaka. Sakura's plate had freshly made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Sakura was amazed. It was what she usually took for breakfast back at the mansion.

"How did you know?" Sakura asked. The waiter grinned as she took a bite. "It even tastes the same."

"It is the family recipe," he told her.

"You're related to the chef?"

"Businesses owned by the Li clan tend to employ only other Li's," the waiter explained, "And only a fool does not pay attention to the main family's affairs in the areas where it concerns them."

Sakura nodded in understanding and smiled cheerfully. "Thank you. It is delicious."

A powerful magical aura flared and disappeared. She glanced around, but knew that it had been too far away to see. She tried to think of an excuse to leave. Her phone rang.

"Syaoran!" she answered, identifying him by the ringtone.

"Something was stolen. We don't know what." He sounded distressed.

"One minute," Sakura told him, turning to her father, "I need to go, I'll pay on the way out."

Sakura grabbed her things as her father rushed to try and swallow a mouthful of food.

"Sakura," her father called after her as she raced towards the door. It was too late.

"Just send me the bill or, whatever,." Sakura yelled at the waiter as she ran through the door and put the cell phone back to her ear.

The waiter chuckled. The main house never had to pay, and Syaoran would have his head if he actually sent them a bill. He walked over to the table. Sakura had only taken one bite of her breakfast.

"I was wondering," Fujitaka said to him before he could take the plate, "If you could answer some questions for me."

There were no other customers, and there probably wouldn't be any others for a few hours. The waiter sat down and popped one of the strawberries from Sakura's plate into his mouth. "I will do my best to answer your questions," he said after swallowing.

* * *

Syaoran listened as Sakura told him what was going on.

"I felt something really strong," she told Syaoran, "Then Jade's aura vanished."

"She's one of the students working with your father..." Syaoran stated pensively.

"Yes. Her aura," Sakura huffed as she ran, "It came from somewhere in the park."

"I'm coming-"

"No. You rest." Sakura cut him off. She was not going to take any chances with him.

"You don't understand, the item was probably stolen by Jade."

"You find out more about what happened in Beijing, and I'll check this out," Sakura told him firmly.

"I'm sending help," Syaoran insisted and then hung up before she could argue. The phone was only on the hook for a split second before he dialed a three digit code. "Send a team to the park; Sakura may be in danger."

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the park, she could just barely sense Jade and followed the disturbingly weak aura to a clearing in the woods. Jade lay near the far side of the clearing. She wasn't moving. Sakura rushed to her side and knelt down. Jade's breathing was so shallow that it was almost undetectable. Before she even got a chance to touch Jade, Sakura heard the unmistakable click of a gun that was dangerously close to the back of her head.

"Put your hands behind your head!" a bald man yelled in English. He wore a black trench coat and dark sunglasses, and his body showed the signs of military training.

Sakura didn't quite catch the words that he had said, but had a good idea of what he wanted her to do. She raised her hands above her in the gesture for surrender. Other men in in black military style outfits were making their way into the clearing and forming a perimeter. These men didn't have magic, but they were highly trained. She was sure that if she tried to summon her wand now, she would be shot before she could cast a spell. She called out in her head for Kero and Yue. She wasn't sure, but she thought that they might be able to sense her distress.

The men talked in rapid English while the man in the trench coat barked out orders. Sakura guessed by their appearance and accents that they were American. A middle-aged Chinese man in a blue sweater raced over to Jade. He looked familiar, but Sakura couldn't place where she had seen him before.

At the periphery of her senses, a group of suppressed auras spread out and began to encircle the clearing. Sakura wondered whether she should warn the gunmen that people were coming. The men were taking care of Jade, so she guessed that they weren't the attackers, which meant that the people surrounding them might be the attackers, or they might be the help that Syaoran said that he was going to send. It was too late to worry now. The man in the trench coat stopped giving orders and stiffened. All eyes turned to him. That was their mistake. A second later, they all dropped their weapons and were expertly restrained by sword wielding Li's.

Sakura relaxed. "Key with the powers of my star, reveal you true form to me. Under the contract, Sakura commands you. Release!" She was no longer defenseless. She turned to check on Jade and saw that her eyes were wide open.

"Let them go," She commanded. She know that they were not the ones who attacked Jade. She was only half surprised when the Li fighters did as she told them. They did not allow them to retrieve their guns though and Sakura saw no reason to allow them to.

Sakura sat down next to Jade and the man in the blue sweater. "How is she?" Sakura asked.

"She-" The man began, but Jade's voice interrupted him weakly.

"I'm fine, it's just my energy. It's like my magic is gone." Her eyes stared up unfocused as if she were too tired to do any more than force them to remain open.

"Who did this to you?" Sakura asked. She placed a hand on Jade's head and forced her own magical energy into Jade. Her body would not be able to use it, but it would make her feel a bit better.

"A man wearing white. He had a cross around his neck and a glowing red earring. He just said something and then it was gone. It was all gone." Jade answered in English for the benefit of her associates who would not have understood Chinese.

"He took it?" the bald man asked, both surprised and angry.

"And my powers. All of them."

"He got the talismans! That's why we keep them in the vault!" The man yelled. Jade smirked weakly and Sakura guessed that this was not the first time she had been given a tongue lashing for this particular offense.

"No… Only it. The talismans are…" She reached into her pocket. When her hand came back out, it gripped a handful of stone dust."

"I'm going to call Syaoran," Sakura said. Everyone was alright, so she did not know what she should do next in this situation. Even if she did, the Li's needed to be warned. If Jade really was strong enough to steal from the Emperor's treasury and get away with it, then whoever beat her must be a real threat.

The phone rang once after Sakura dialed the number. "Sakura! Is everything alright?"

"No one is seriously injured. There were some armed Americans, but they were disarmed by the help you sent. I don't know what to do now."

"Were there any of the Emperor's men nearby?"

"No, Jade says she was attacked by a..."

Sakura stopped as she tried to remember how Jade had described her attacker.

"It was a white guy," Jade said for her. She had regained enough energy to talk normally, "Probably European. His clothes were all white. Around his neck was a silver crucifix, and in his ear was a red gem that emitted a magical aura. He had magic that I've never... Well it was similar to the druids at Stonehenge, at least it had the same feeling to it."

"Western magic." Syaorans voice sounded tinny while Sakura held the cell phone out so he could hear Jade. "Do you remember the incantations?"

Sakura glanced around and noticed that the army men were looking rather uncomfortable, their leader looked especially irked that Jade was telling them everything so freely.

"They sounded like Bible verses," Jade finally answered.

"One final question." Syaoran said, "And this is the most important one for you. What did you steal from the Emperor?"

"Nothing," Jade said much too quickly. Moments later, each of the army men were on the ground with a sword to the base of their skulls.

"Wait!" Sakura protested.

"Don't worry, they always talk before anyone dies," the leader of the Li team said as he applied pressure to the American leader's neck, "But that does not mean we're not willing to do what's necessary." He sent a glare towards Jade.

Before things could escalate further, there was a loud crashing in the trees. It sounded like some humongous beast was on a rampage. The earth trembled, making leaves and twigs fall down upon their heads. Bursting forth through the brush, Sakura saw the shining outline of a bull. If she didn't know that she had already captured them all, she would have thought that it was a Clow Card. It charged straight towards them.

People dove out of the way as the crazed creature rushed towards Sakura. The Li team leader released his hostage and tackled Sakura out of the way. Her phone was jarred from her hand.

* * *

It ran straight into a large tree, shattering the trunk like it was made of glass.

"The Ox!" the man in the blue sweater exclaimed, "Why is it not inside a talisman, or a noble cow?"

"I don't know." Jade said, "Call uncle, he'll know what to-"

"Power card, discard your former strength and take on the power of my star and give me your strength!" Sakura rushed at the attacking bull, and it responded in kind.

"No, get out of the way!" Jade shouted frantically, "It has super strength!" She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable crunch of shattering bones.

There was only a loud thud and a strained grunt as the clattering of the bull's hooves came to a stop. Jade opened her eyes and say that Sakura had taken the bull by the horns and stopped it in its tracks. There were almost perfectly matched, but Sakura's feet were slowly sliding backwards. If only she still had the- but that was what was placing them in their current predicament. Jade checked her pockets for anything that might be of use, but anything with even the slightest of magical properties had been reduced to dust, just like the talismans.

Jade sat up and raised her hand towards the bull. "Yu… Mo… Gui… Gwaai… Fie… Di… Jao…" She strained as she tried to get the chi to flow. She couldn't even manage a weak chi blast in her current condition. If only she had something to enhance her chi control. She glanced around, but knew that there was no chance that any animal was nearby.

She pounded the grass with her fist. Uncle wasn't here to help her this time, but maybe that didn't matter. Jade recoiled when her hand was scratched by something in the grass. It was the dried spine of her puffer fish. It must have broken off and fallen out of her pocket at some time during her fight. It was just a dirty, trampled and broken piece of the whole, but it should prove useful. "Yo mo gui gwaai fie di jao!" A small globe of chi made it half way to where Sakura was fighting with the Ox.

Sakura stumbled, and barely rolled out of the way in time. The Ox bore down upon Jade and she thought for sure that she was about to be trampled to death under its mighty hooves. It stopped. Jade could feel its hot breath against her face as it struggled to move towards her. Sakura, panting with exertion, had grabbed desperately onto its tail.

"Yo mo gui gwaai fie di jao!" At point blank range, the blast did not even phase the Ox. She needed help. She grabbed her cellphone from her pocket and flipped it open. The bottom dangled limply from the top. During all the action, the hinge had been damaged. Sakura's phone lay a few feet away, right next to the Ox's hooves. It stamped angrily and pawed the ground. Jade shakily pulled herself onto her knees and crawled towards the threatening creature.

A gunshot rang out and a bullet pierced the Ox's glowing skin, only to pass right through and embed itself into a tree. It was just a spirit, incorporeal. Which idiot had fired a gun? Captain Black. He had never quite grasped Uncle's first rule: magic must defeat magic. Sakura's grip slipped for a moment as she turned to look as well.

It was almost touching Jade now. Its muzzle hovered almost against her nose. It snorted and she was almost bowled over. She had to do it now. She tried to dive towards the phone, but a powerful jerk on the back of her collar dragged her away.

"What do you think you are doing? You are going to get yourself killed!" It was Uncle Jackie.

"I need a phone to call Uncle," she replied defiantly; her look turned sheepish as Captain Black produced his own phone from a pocket on the inside of his trench coat.

"Next time, just ask." He handed her the phone and then rubbed his forehead as if trying to relieve a headache.

"I'm calling Uncle," she replied as she keyed in the number and hit the send button.

"This is Uncle's Antiques," Uncle's voice answered, then became muffled, "Toru, customer on phone! One more thing, antiques need dusting."

"Uncle!" Jade shouted into the phone to get his attention.

"Is this Jade?" Uncle asked.

"Yes, I-"

"Toru dust later, Jade is needing help to fight forces of darkness!" He shouted away from the receiver, "What evil do you fight now?"

"Talismans were destroyed, Ox spirit rampaging. My chi is completely drained. Only have broken puffer."

"Spirit needs a vessel. A spirit can not live without something to contain it. One more thing, if it is not captured and contained, spirit will become even more dangerous. One more thing, If not stopped, spirit will get stronger and stronger until it explodes."

A crash. Sakura was pinned against a tree. She and the bull were surrounded by Li's. Each raised their sword towards the bull and slashed upwards. "Force strike!" They chanted in unison. Their combined attack lifted the bull's feet from the ground just long enough for Sakura to push it away with all her might, sending it barreling across the clearing.

"I need a spell now! We can't hold it off much longer!"

"Uncle must first do research. We must seal it as soon as possible."

"Research how to seal it later! I need a spell now!"

"Seal it?" Sakura asked, "I have an idea, but we need to stop it first."

"Aim at the spirit." Uncle instructed Jade.

Jade lifted the broken fish and aimed it at the Ox as Uncle began chanting. A steady beam of chi lanced out and struck the Ox in the chest. It didn't stop, but it slowed down as it pushed against the force of the chi spell.

* * *

Sakura stood directly in the Ox's path with her wand raised. "I've never done this before. I hope it works."

She gathered her magic into the tip of the wand and chanted. "Mighty Ox spirit, discard your former freedom and bind yourself under my contract. Form yourself as a card and draw from the power of my star so that I may gain your strength!" She struck the ox on the head as hard as she could and felt the power being sucked out of her. She thought for a moment that it would take every ounce of magic she had until it had drained her life away, but then it stopped. She could barely hold herself upright and swayed. One of the Li agents rushed forward and steadied her. Sakura's hands trembled. The Ox still stood before her. It wasn't moving, but she was now defenseless.

The Ox's skin began to bubble outwards, and then the spirit exploded into uncountable fragments. A magical wind vortex drew in all the scattered particles and they merged together, slowly forming into the shape of a card. When it had finished, the wind died down, and the card floated gently into Sakura's hand. The card had the picture of a bucking bull on it and was named The Strength.

"Take us home." Sakura yawned.


	14. Reconcilliation

**AN:** Heres a little present for the SxS lovers out there, enjoy it, cause its the last SxS yumminess that you will see for a while. If you're lucky, maybe you'll even get a chapter weekly for the next couple weeks.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Reconciliation**

A groggy Sakura was gently roused from her sleep. She was still physically and magically exhausted. It was Yue who had woken her. His brow was furrowed and his lips pressed tightly together in a worried expression that was a rare sight considering his usual stern but emotionless expression. Keroberos was next to them, staring angrily at the council. He had not yet forgotten the trials his mistress had faced in this room.

They were at the Li mansion in front of the council of elders. The Americans where there as well. Behind each of them was a man outfitted in a Li uniform. She suspected that they were some sort of ceremonial guard detail. Each one bore a tightly fitting silk shirt with a high Chinese collar and a tasseled coat with wide flowing sleeves and a tail the reached almost down to the floor. At their waists were silver guarded swords in the fashion of European rapiers in black lacquered sheathes marked with gold trim. The right arm of each man had a band of gold-embroidered green cloth that displayed the yin-yang.

Li Xiao Fang was looking at Sakura. His stern gaze didn't stray from her until she had shakily straightened herself up and returned it. Yue was carefully holding her shoulders so that she would not sway or topple over.

"Sakura, I am going to ask you a question. I know you have expended every ounce of your power and need to rest, so please answer completely and truthfully. Do these men pose a danger to the Li clan." His eyes were like black pools of dreadful emptiness as they bore into her, demandingly. Sakura knew that the secrecy of the Li clan was important, and that in some cases they would kill to maintain it. She had not witnessed this herself, but had heard about it in the morning lessons as the Elders talked about the history of the clan. Her words could save the men before her, or sentence them to death. She tried to think, but her mind was clouded with drowsiness.

"They aren't a threat!" she finally said, hoping that it was the answer she needed. The fire in the brazier at the center of the room flared with a burst of red flame. That wasn't a good sign. "I mean, that I don't think they have any reason to try and hurt us." The fire remained calm.

"Then it is decided unanimously. They know too much to be allowed to leave." Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Before she could protest, the elder continued, "Their memories will be erased, after their leader," he glanced towards the man called Captain Black, "Writes a sufficiently convincing report."

"What about Jade?" Sakura asked.

"For now, she will have an inhibition spell placed on her and she will begin Li training to be planted in the American's Section Thirteen. If she resists, she will have her memories erased as well."

Sakura sighed in relief. While losing a day of memories was not a good thing for the men, it was far better than some of the possibilities she had imagined. The Americans, luckily, either did not understand or they had the sense not to say anything for fear of making their situation worse. She had expected Jade to at least make some comment about it. She waited. Jade wasn't here. Maybe they were letting her rest, or had already removed her to the training facility.

"It's over, you need some rest," Kero told her. Sakura nodded in agreement. She took a stumbling step towards the door. "I'll carry you to your room."

With Yue's help, Sakura ended up lying astride Kero's back, loosely gripping the fur of his chest. She dozed off while he carried her.

* * *

It seemed like she had not been out for more than a few seconds before she heard Syaoran's concerned voice. His hand touched her shoulder and she flinched violently, falling off Kero and onto the floor.

"Sorry!" He withdrew sullenly. She already looked so tired; he didn't want to cause her any more distress.

Sakura rubbed her eyes and yawned. She knew she had to confront this feeling sooner or later. It was better to get it over with. She grabbed a handful of Kero's fur and used him to help herself get to her feet. She wobbled slightly as if drunk as she stood.

"We've got to stop this," she slurred tiredly. She shuffled towards the bed, removing her shirt. She tossed it carelessly aside and then began fumbling with the clasp of her bra. Soon, it was discarded as well. She collapsed forward onto the bed. "Maybe if you make me feel good, my body will remember that instead." She had just wrestled a super strong Ox spirit and lost, so not only was her magic exhausted, but her muscles were tired and sore as well.

Syaoran's hand touched her back and Sakura's body tightened up. Her hands dug into and gripped the fabric of the comforter tightly. He stopped, allowing her to relax again. His hands began to gently move up and down, delicately following the curve of her back, looping over her shoulders and back to where he'd started. Before Sakura realized what had happened, he was kneeling astride her on the bed and putting his whole body into long smooth strokes along her skin.

Sakura's body was no longer tense. Syaoran's hands began to firmly knead the muscles around her neck. She sighed contentedly into the blankets. Her body was accepting his touch now, and it felt good. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck – he inhaled deeply as if he could breathe her in. She couldn't stifle a giggle. The breath tickled.

His warm hands traced the path of her arms, wrapping around Sakura's from behind. His lips began to trace the back of her collarbone. She moaned contentedly and he nuzzled the valley of her neck. Her head rolled over into the crook of his arm. A few moments later, she was asleep, gently drooling on his sleeve as she snored.

* * *

Tomoyo gazed out her window and sighed. Her life was dull. Her sewing kit and camera sat idly upon her dresser. It had been a whole dull day where Hiiragizawa had not interfered with her in some way. His house was easily visible. She looked at it, wondering if something was going to happen soon. The house loomed up at the end of the street and seemed to call out to her saying, 'Come and see what torments I have for you today.'

She leaned back and stroked her hair. The ribbon and bead that he had placed there had not budged and the braid would not unravel. She had tugged mercilessly at it for over an hour, but could not so much as remove a single loop of the braid. She had considered cutting the whole thing off, but it would have left a conspicuous bald spot. She suspected that even then, the ribbon would remain attached to her. The spell that held it there was masterfully crafted; it even drained the water off after she bathed.

Tomoyo turned away from the window and saw her reflection in a mirror. The ribbon looked very nice. It matched her eyes perfectly and the darker color of the bead seemed to provide a bridge of color to her hair. It looked like it should naturally be there. It was almost too perfect. She began to think that it was perhaps another spell to keep her from trying to remove it. Her brow furrowed in annoyance. Two could play at that game. She grabbed her sewing kit and some fabric and began working furiously.

An hour later, her creation was finished. She had not expected it to happen so quickly. She now held in her hands a black leather collar. It was studded every half inch with nickel-plated metal stars. The stitches around the edge of the collar were in shining silver thread. The front was circular, larger than the band of the collar. Embroidered there in gold was the best rendition she could make of Eriol's magic circle. And her favorite part of it was a metal trick buckle on the back. He could never open it without knowing the secret of the mechanism. She smirked deviously. Now all she had to do was get him to put it on.

Tomoyo grabbed a sweater, and then headed out into the chill of the early evening. She glanced around, expecting him to be waiting for her to appear. He wasn't there. She walked cautiously to his house. Nothing jumped out at her. She could see the lights were on in the kitchen. Nakuru and Spinnel were there, fighting over a large bowl. The was light coming from another room of the house, but the curtains were drawn and Tomoyo could not see in.

She walked up to the door and reached out towards the doorbell. She decided against pressing it. If he thought he could just waltz into her room at any time of the day or night, then there was no reason she shouldn't be able to do the same to him. She grabbed the handle. It turned and the door opened easily and silently as if it was freshly oiled.

The air smelt slightly musty. This came as no surprise considering how long it had been since anyone had lived in the house, but everything looked sparkling clean. Even the thick rugs on the hardwood floors were free of any stray fibers, better than any vacuum cleaner could achieve.

She headed towards the room that she had noticed from outside. Along the way, Tomoyo admired the majestic oil paintings in carved wooden frames. The portraits all showed regal looking men and women in dark robes. Many of the figures in the portraits were bespectacled and their eyes seemed to follow her. They all had haughty and disdainful expressions as if they thought her presence would infect them with some horrible disease. Others, like a man whose portrait was labeled Fei Wong Reed, seemed much less imposing, but seemed untrustworthy, as if they were plotting something behind her back. Almost all of them bore the name Reed.

Tomoyo came upon a living room. It was lit by antique brass fixtures which looked like they had originally held candles rather than the light bulbs that now adorned their sockets. The room had a large fireplace and a bay window. Several book cases that lined the walls, filled with thick volumes addressing many subjects. In the center of the room was a red armchair with an extremely high back. It seemed almost like a comfortable version of a throne. Eriol was sprawled awkwardly on this chair, immersed in, of all things, _Harry Potter_.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" His wand appeared and he waved it, but nothing happened. He sighed despondently and continued reading.

Tomoyo walked up to him and leaned over. Her hair fell forward and blocked his sight of the book. He looked surprised, and then grinned.

"Only one day. I didn't think you'd miss me so soon..." He snapped the book shut and made it levitate over to the bookshelf using his own spell instead of the one he'd read in the book. He smiled slyly, "This is unexpected." He seemed both delighted and perturbed at the same time.

"I made you something to thank you for this," she stroked the braid and ribbon, "Why don't you try it on?" She dangled the collar in front of his face. He grabbed it and snapped it on without hesitation.

"How do I look?" he asked. He undid the top button of his shirt to better show off the accessory. "A mirror!" With a wave of his wand a mirror appeared and he posed.

"You look like a dog," she said flatly.

"Handsome, loyal, friendly, and strong," he gasped in mock astonishment, "That is too nice of you. You know what would go great with this? A robe."

"Then you could fly around on a broom yelling about Voldemort's return?"

"Exactly! Everyone would love it." Eriol turned and yelled towards the door, "Spinnel, get in here!"

Moments later, the small, black, cat-like creature sped through the doorway to heed his master's call. "What is it?" He looked on edge and ready to fight at any moment.

"Look what Tomoyo made me!" Eriol said cheerily. Spinnel's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm going to make sure Nakuru doesn't burn down the house," he said and turned, intending to return to the kitchen.

"You have to try it!" Eriol called out, halting the magical beast.

Tomoyo watched as his hand went to the back of his neck. Now was the time for him to realize her revenge. She held her breath to contain her excitement and watched his fingerscome to rest on the clasp.

She was completely baffled when he removed the collar singlehandedly. It took her both hands and some fiddling to accomplish the same thing, and she knew what she was doing.

Eriol snapped the collar around Spinnel's belly. On its tightest fitting, it was just small enough. "Now don't you look handsome, Suppi."

Tomoyo scowled irritably as Spinnel tried and failed to remove the collar. Her plan had been a complete failure. This time she was the one who turned to leave. Eriol grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"You came all the way over here to give me a present. What kind of host would I be if I didn't at least cook you dinner?" Clouds of smoke began drifting into the room, "I assure you that I am much better at it than Nakuru."

Tomoyo sighed and relented.

* * *

Sakura stood before the ancient water shrine. Everything was silent. Wings flared above the shrine.

"Yue?" She asked. No, it wasn't him. Others were there. All of them were bathed in shadow except for one. The middle figure carried a golden staff in one hand, and was sitting on the peak of the shrine roof. Wrapped in his arms, a body was plainly visible. The pale skin was motionless, as though she was dead.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura ran forward, but a barrier blocked her way.

"Soon..." The shadowed figure said as he cradled Tomoyo's body, "I will make everything right again. A bright flash of light stopped her from moving. She struggled valiantly, but could not budge.

The light disappeared and a pair of arms wrapped lovingly around her.

* * *

When Sakura woke up, it was early morning – very early. The alarm to remind them about the morning lessons would be sounding soon. She felt warm and safe in bed with Syaoran's arms wrapped tightly around her, his hand cupping her – Sakura blushed and then smiled. She had not intended to fall asleep in her current state of undress. She wondered if Syaoran knew what he had done in his sleep.

Sakura snuggled herself back, enjoying the press of his bare chest against her equally bare back. He must have removed his shirt before he had turned in for the night. Grabbing a quick feel behind her, Sakura determined that he was not wearing anything other than his boxer shorts, and she only her panties. She had conflicting feelings about whether to get up and get dressed before he woke up, or enjoy their current proximity. She decided on the former, urged on by embarrassment and fear that her brother would kill him if he ever found out.

Sakura tried to pull away from him. His arms tightened around her.

"No," Syaoran said childishly and nuzzled her neck. He was awake. The nuzzling tickled and Sakura squirmed and laughed. He gently nipped at her jawline. She twisted around so that she could face him. He rolled on top of her and kissed the tip of her nose. Sakura reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a deep kiss.

Syaoran pulled back, breathing heavily. He removed her hands from his neck and entwined her fingers with his own. He began to kiss down her jawline. He followed the line of her neck and she lifted her chin to give him better access. He worked his way downwards.

"Hoe!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise when Syaoran nipped at the sensitive tip of her nipple. He grinned excitedly at her reaction. He placed his lips over it–

"HOEE!" Sakura exclaimed and started violently as the alarm clock began to sound. Syaoran was knocked out of bed. He pulled Sakura and half the bed sheets with him into a tangled mess on the floor. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"You know, we should probably get up," Sakura said. She was lying on top of him and made no move to get up, instead she lay her head down upon his chest. "The elders are going to be even more irritated than usual since we missed yesterday's lessons too."

"Mmnm..." Syaoran mumbled, burying his face in her hair. They lay there for a few minutes before Sakura finally groaned and sat up, stretching her arms.

"I feel like I've been in bed forever," Sakura yawned. Syaoran watched her with a goofy smile on his face until she realized why he was looking at her like that. She squealed and flushed with embarrassment as she tried to cover herself with the sheets. She stood up and wrapped the sheets around herself like she was wearing a bath towel and then walked into the bathroom.

Syaoran watched Sakura go, admiring the way the sheets flowed around her body. She looked like some ancient Greek goddess. He didn't even try to follow her. After Sakura closed the door, he got up and headed to her room to fetch her clothes, contemplating asking the servants to move her dresser into his room to save them the trouble.

* * *

The morning started with a lecture, though not the one they expected.

"In one year, you will be married and leaders of this clan. That is a great responsibility, but you have a responsibility now as well. You must become as strong as you possibly can. As you get older, it becomes harder for your body to increase its magical energies. Soon you will reach the age where your magical power essentially stops growing, your mind stagnates and your body begins its slow decline. It is your responsibility to become as strong as you can for the good of the clan, and for the sake of your own futures," the elder said with just enough urgency to force them to listen, "The program we use is not purely for the sake of tradition. We have developed it over the course of centuries in the hopes that one day it will turn out sorcerers as powerful as Clow Reed. You two are by far the closest anyone has come in pure magical energy to his power."

Sakura and Syaoran nodded.

"Then get yourselves set, and fight!" the elder said, watching closely as they sparred. The two of them were almost on equal terms now that Syaoran's body had begun to recover its strength. If he continued at his current pace, he would soon be as sharp as he had been before.

* * *

"Fight harder!" Meiling easily parried Ryuuten's blows. After some initial discomfort, their interactions became orderly, following the traditional student-teacher dynamic.

"I'm giving you everything I've got!" Ryuuten grunted.

"No you aren't, you're thinking, trying to surprise me. Don't think about it, just do it!" Meiling caught his wrist and threw him to the ground. He rolled with the fall and leapt to his feet. "That's better, now try it again!" She threw him again, but this time she grabbed his leg as he tumbled and he slammed into the mat.

Ryuuten groaned. No matter how well he did, she just kept pushing him harder – and she wasn't pulling all of her punches.

"We only have a few more days!" Meiling yelled as she delivered a hammer kick to where his head would have been had he not rolled out of the way, "You aren't an undefeatable champion yet."

He scrambled to his feet, using every ounce of strength he had just to dodge the blows that were flying at him. A few scored glancing hits, but none of them were enough to knock him down. Then he saw an opening. He reacted.

"Nice." Meiling dodged and kneed him in the gut, "That should be good enough to win at this level of competition."

Ryuuten clutched his stomach in pain as Meiling backed up. Without her there to support him, he fell.

"Even if you're strong enough to win, don't let your guard down. It only takes one lucky hit to end a fight."

Ryuuten grunted. Her training was painful. Her praise was no more soothing.

"You're going to need to rest up so that you'll be at your best for the match." Meiling went to a shelf and picked up a binder full of hand drawn papers of new forms. "I made these myself. They're not what you're used to, because they are based on the Li style. Your opponents won't be ready for it either. I want you to master all of them before the tournament. It should give you an edge if there are any extra tough opponents there."

* * *

Tomoyo awoke to the sound of her piano playing. She knew who it was before she opened her eyes. The sunlight streamed through her window. It was late in the morning. Her alarm must have been turned off. She cracked her eyes open and glared at Eriol.

"You're awake," Eriol's tune became raucous and rousing as if inviting her to wake up and take on the day, "I hope you don't mind," he said, "But it seems that after a few hundred years, pianos become rather out of tune, Otherwise I would have used the one in my own home."

"What are you doing here?" Tomoyo asked. She could practically feel the mess of exploding batter that had interrupted their last encounter. She hated to admit it, but he was a competent chef, but he had relented to Nakuru's pleading and allowed her to help. She wasn't sure what had happened, but in a single moment, batter had gone from being in a bowl to coating every visible surface. Tomoyo was half certain that there was still some batter dangling in her tresses despite her attempts to wash it all away. In a way, Tomoyo was thankful to Nakuru for it. The mess had given her an excuse to go home and get away from Eriol. She cursed herself for ever thinking that her plan would work against him.

"Just a little invitation," Eriol said, "Theres something I want to see." He stopped playing and walked over to her. He handed her a ticket to a junior martial arts tournament. He smiled and ran a finger across his neck. He was wearing the collar she had made for him.


	15. The Tournament

**AN:** Sorry about the wait. My beta dropped off the face of the earth so I got a new one. Thanks to Inazuma Akai for her work.

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Tournament**

* * *

"Hurry up! We're going to be late." Sakura urged Syaoran.

"Why do we have to go." Syaoran complained as he emerged in his ceremonial battle outfit. Sakura was already wearing one of the outfits that the Li family had provided for her. "I'd rather just stay home with you."

Syaoran had immensely enjoyed the past few days. Sakura had finally stopped holding back and was allowing him to show his affections in whatever ways he wanted. He had been clean for long enough that he barely felt any urge for drugs and he could easily resist it for her. It was like the whole thing had never happened.

"It's Meiling's first student's big tournament. She needs out support. Maybe you can even give Ryuuten some advice. Besides, she got us in at ringside with her. We can't not go." She grabbed the hand of his good arm and began dragging him out to the hallway.

Wei was waiting for them when they got downstairs and drove the two of them to the arena where the tournament was being held. The stadium was packed with people who had come to watch the fights. Sakura and Syaoran avoided the lines and went to a service entrance where, after seeing their passes, a stadium employee let them in.

Inside, there were actually three rings set up for the initial stages of the tournament. All three would be used during the elimination rounds, but the finals would be held in the center ring. Above them, the stadium seating rose up in two tiers, a lower level and a suspended level with balconies and boxes. The seats were filling up fast. Around the fighting rings, series of low wooden benches were set up for the contestants and their trainers to use between their matches.

After a bit of searching, they found Meiling and Ryuuten sitting on a bench in a corner. Tsumeguchi Kagetora was with them, but other than that, there were no other representatives of the dojo there. Ryuuten was the only one who was competing.

The other benches seemed as if each one was dedicated to a specific school or dojo. Most were packed, as if having many fighters was the sole deciding factor in the fights. Only a few benches contained just one or two people, but each of thesel seemed like they were opponents to be taken seriously.

The girl on the next bench was different from the rest though. She had a slighter build than the majority of contestants, and did not have anyone there to sponsor or support her. She looked like she was probably a foreign competitor.

"Just remember what I taught you." Meiling told Ryuuten, "You can do it." She helped him to put on the light gloves. There were not just the various forms of karate and kick boxing represented, but everything from sumo to aikido. Mixed martial arts meant that no one knew what to expect from their opponents unless their were familiar with the opponent's fighting school.

In due course, the fighting began. In the first round, Ryuuten faced a nine-year-old from one of the larger schools. The boy was good for his age, but nowhere near Ryuuten's level. The fight was over in under a minute and Ryuuten was finished. The girl from the next bench over came back at the same time.

Syaoran looked to the ring she had fought in. The medical personnel were trying to revive a well muscled guy who had been knocked unconscious. Had he not been unconscious, Syaoran would have pegged him to be among the last contestants standing. He resolved to make sure he saw the girl's next match.

Ryuuten's next match came up first. He was against a lanky kid with wiry muscles. He didn't even see the first punch fly before he found himself reeling backwards. The punch did not have as much power as the ones he usually received, but it was fast. Ryuuten raised his arms to protect his face. His opponent stood there watching him, arms lazily at his sides. He was unprotected. Ryuuten drew back his fist, but received a blow to the side of the head before he could throw a punch himself.

"Focus!" Meiling yelled at him.

Ryuuten loosened his stance and planted his leading foot. He prepared to punch again, but instead of punching, he turned his entire torso to the side just in time to see his opponents fist appear next to his face. Ryuuten grabbed the arm with his drawn hand, then used the other arm to deliver a powerful elbow to the ribs. His opponent exhaled sharply and his body slacked. Ryuuten elbowed him three more times in rapid succession before flipping the boy over his hip, sending him down onto the mat hard. He delivered a powerful downward punch to the mat next to his opponents head and waited. The referee called the match in his favor.

"Way to kick his ass!" Meiling cheered. As Ryuuten returned to the bench.

"You should have gotten in close. His style depended on using the length of his arms to deal fast blows at a distance. He would have been defenseless if you had gotten close enough." Syaoran pointed out.

"Assuming he had no other skills," Meiling countered Syaoran's criticism, "He made a good choice."

"Whatever," Syaoran shrugged, "Let's see what she does." The girl on the next bench stood up. Her next fight would be taking place in the same ring that Ryuuten had just finished in.

The girl's opponent was a sumo wrestler. He had a definite size advantage. When the beginning of the fight was signaled, the sumo grinned and offered to let her forfeit. The girl shrugged and took a loose fighting stance. She walked calmly towards her larger opponent. He tried knocking her back with a palm thrust. She ducked under it, performing a spinning heel kick to the top of his ankle. There was a loud crack. The sumo's face blanched and he tumbled to the ground. He clutched his ankle in obvious pain. The girl had won easily and decidedly. The sumo would probably not be able to compete again.

"Watch her," Kagetora said, "She is definitely going to reach the finals. Make sure you study her movements so you'll be ready for her."

"She beat him too easily. She might be a problem," Meiling admitted. She had not expected such stiff competition. The girl's movements, while slightly careless, were completely flawless. She seemed to achieve through natural grace what Meiling had worked for years to perfect.

Ryuuten scowled. She was probably better than him. He waited for her to return to her bench, then approached her. "Nice kick," he said. He didn't want to lose to her, but if he showed her respect, maybe she would not deal him such a crippling blow when it came time for them to fight.

"Thanks." The girl brushed him off. He obviously did not concern her as much as she concerned him.

Ryuuten gritted his teeth. He did not like being looked down on. Even if she was better than him, he was still really good and deserved some respect for that. "It won't work when you fight me in the finals."

"Are you sure you'll even make it to the finals?" The girl grabbed a sport drink out of a duffel bag that was stored under her bench. "Looks like you're up again."

Ryuuten stormed into the ring. The girl's nonchalant manner really pissed him off. His opponent looked like a hulking street brawler. As soon as the match was signaled to start, Ryuuten ran at his opponent. At the last moment, he jumped and delivered a flying knee to his opponent's chin. The fight was over in less than ten seconds.

When he returned to the bench, Meiling was fuming. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was? If you had not landed that, you would be the one out of the tournament. I did not train you to take risks, I trained you to win fights!"

"And I won!" Ryuuten snapped.

"Just calm down," Syaoran said, "She knows you're good, she psyched you out, and unless you get control of yourself, you are not facing anyone in the finals."

"I can still win!" he relied determinedly. He glared at the girl next to them. She just sipped lazily at her drink and ignored him as if he wasn't there.

"Not as you are." Kagetora said, "You have to be focused on your fight, not on showing off. You are a strong fighter, but she is at least as strong as you. You should be proud that she feels threatened by you enough that she has to resort to these kind of tricks."

The words soothed Ryuuten's temper.

"If that is all it took to beat him, he would not have been worth fighting anyway," the girl said, not even looking over.

The fights progressed for another two hours before it was time for the finals. Ryuuten only had minor bruises. He took one of his water bottles, chugged it, then gasped for air for a few seconds. With all the fighters fighting, the arena had become very warm, the stadium lights made it even warmer. Just by standing there, Syaoran was already sweating.

"You look thirsty." The girl tossed him a bottle.

"I'm fine," he said and prepared to toss it back at her.

"Don't worry about it, keep it until you need it, I have tons." As if to prove this, she pulled out four more bottles with different colored drinks inside. Syaoran glanced at his. It was white, some sort of citrus flavor. He put it down on the bench.

Soon, it was the final match. Ryuuten and the girl were the only two left. They entered the center ring.

Syaoran could not take the heat anymore. He took and opened the bottle that had been given to him and drained half of it in a few gulps. It wasn't bad. It was kind of sour and had a bitter aftertaste, but it was refreshing. He felt a lot better.

"Syaoran, are you okay?" Sakura was looking much to worried considering how good he felt.

"I feel great, just thirtsy." He smiled happily and gazed lazily at her. She still didn't look happy. She grabbed his drink from him and took a small sip, then spat it out.

"This isn't what this is supposed to taste like. We have to get you to a hospital, now."

"I feel great. There's nothing wrong with me," he grabbed for the bottle, "let me have some more, I'm still thirsty."

"Never." She said defiantly and backed away, "Meiling, help!" Meiling and Kagetora grabbed Syaoran from behind and restrained him. He struggled. He was thirsty. He wanted the drink. It was good. It made him feel good.

"You finally tried the drink I see," It was the girl who had given it to him, she had already beaten Ryuuten and still did not have a mark on her. "Just remember who gives you what you want," she blew Syaoran a kiss, "My name is Rusaki Akila."

"Why..." Sakura asked. Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were slowly leaking tears and here fists were clenched so tightly that they were drawing blood. She glared hatefully at Rusaki Akila.

Akila smiled deviously, "Syaoran and I were meant for each other, so why should he settle for a bitch like you."

Sakura attacked Akila with everything she had. Akila, as good as she was, was having trouble keeping up with Sakura. Every punch she threw released a wave of malevolent magical energy. Sakura had never felt hatred like this before. "You knew he had this problem. We suffered so much so that he could overcome it. You just had to bring it back. Why can't you just leave us the hell alone?" Then there were two of her. One was still angrily lashing out at Akila, the other just collapsed into a heap, crying her eyes out.

"What the hell is happening?" Kagetora asked.

"I don't know, just keep him pinned." Meiling ordered as she tried to figure out what had gone wrong.

* * *

"What did you do this time?" Tomoyo asked irritably as she saw the commotion break out. She could see Meiling and some other man holding Syaoran back while Sakura, by some miracle of magic, seemed to execute some form of mitosis while she attacked one of the competitors.

"Its the same thing, the reason we did nothing for a while. Things have become rather complicated. I wanted to see this with my own eyes," Eriol explained, "there are people interfering who shouldn't be. I should have foreseen this." His eys flicked back and forth across the battle and his finger tapped impatiently as if he was waiting for something that was not coming.

Tomoyo prepared to retort, but then realized that Eriol was truly concerned, "You really didn't do this, did you?" The revelation shocked her. She hadn't even thought to consider that their might be other forces at work than those directly under his control. She didn't think that he would allow anything to hurt her, but if this was beyond his control...

"I never planned for it to happen this way. I never should have waited. So many people are going to die because I waited." He gripped the armrest so tightly that his knuckles turned white and the cheap plastic construct cracked.

"Are you telling me-"

"That if I had done things the way I originally planned them, Laishi Lin would still be alive today, but you never would have met her. You would still be Sakura's best friend, and no one would have interfered with my plans." His tone was cold, stating facts without emotion, but his intensity told a different story than the level of his voice. His whole body was tenser than Tomoyo had ever seen it.

"Then why did you wait? You knew what would happen." Tomoyo felt the old hatred resurfacing and redirecting. She had almost grown accustomed to this boy's presence, and now he said that he could have prevented Laishi Lin's death if he had chosen to. It was a terrible betrayal, he acted as if he cared for her, all the while causing the deepest tortures of he soul.

"Eight years ago, a woman told me once that it was to cruel to inflict what I was going to do upon a cute little eleven year old girl, and that something precious to her would be lost. When I looked, I saw that It was true. So I waited, and I waited, but the future just kept getting worse. The woman and I grew apart, and now here we are. If I had waited any longer something even worse would have occurred." He finally lost the remnants of his composure, his voice containing both the burning throngs of love and the seething pains of loss and hatred. This was not the same persona he usually showed to Tomoyo. The calculating fun-loving guy was replaced with a desperate villain, bent on his own sinister goals. It made it all the easier for Tomoyo to hate him.

"Why do it at all? If you had done nothing, then none of this would have happened." He was like a monster to her. He was immensely powerful, but only used his power to satisfy his own twisted whims, regardless of who got hurt, or could have been saved.

"Don't you have anything that you would sacrifice everything else to protect?" Eriol asked wearily.

Tomoyo's thought of Sakura for a moment, and then she replied sourly, "Not anymore."

They watched in silence as the fight progressed. It seemed that the girl Sakura had been fighting had only been toying with her. She began to beat Sakura back. All eyes in the arena were on them.

"Why not stop it if you didn't plan for this," Tomoyo asked. The crowd was panicking. This was not the type of fighting they had paid to see.

"Everything I've seen tells me that no matter what I do, One of those two is going to die today," he said, "Everything I know tells me that the girl Sakura is fighting never should have existed in the first place, her whole family was killed centuries ago. I can't see anything I could do to fix this."

* * *

"Key that hides the power of my star, reveal your true form to me. Under the contract, Sakura commands you, RELEASE!" The wand was different. Instead of its usual pink, it was a foamy sea green and the star was a malevolent red. The wings were black.

"Am I the only one who's keeping their senses?" Meiling gasped, "Hold him!" Meiling released Syaoran and Kagetora took him in a powerful restraining hold.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kagetora asked as he watched what seemed impossible to him.

"Strength!" Sakura swung her staff. A bench went flying over the heads of the crowd and crashed into the far wall of the stadium and shattered.

Meiling took out her phone and dialed the number for the police, impatiently watching as panic mounted in the crowd.

"Connect me to Chief Po Risu," Meiling shouted over the din of the crowd that was now scrabbling towards their nearest exit as Akila began throwing bolts of lightning around, "Tell him its a Li emergency... Yes uncle, I know, Sakura and Syaoran are in trouble. We need containment, now. Call for special forces backup. We need help fast."

It was less than a minute before sirens were heard.

* * *

"Isn't this where you whisk me away and tell me that the date is postponed?" Tomoyo asked, fearfully hoping that it was true. The battle between Sakura and Akila was intensifying and things were getting much to dangerous, even if Eriol had erected a barrier around them. What scared her more was that Eriol didn't seem to have any idea of what he should do. He always had something up his sleeve, some ulterior motive with some complex plan to back it up, except for now.

"Who said this was a date?" Eriol asked after a long pause to collect his thoughts. He was watching the battle intensely, almost to the point of ignoring Tomoyo. "I left a ticket, you showed up. I didn't ask you to come with me."

"What kind of stupid excuse is that? You sit here and tell me that you are responsible for everything that has happened to me and this is the best excuse you can come up with? I hate you, I hate Sakura, and I wish everyone with magic would just fall over dead right now!" Tomoyo shouted, hitting Eriol over and over again with her less than considerable might.

"Where do you want to go? The police have already sealed the exits," Eriol snapped as he glanced off into the distance, "The Li forces have us surrounded, and I don't know of any way to escape, at least not without leaving you to fend for yourself."

"If the Li's catch you here,"

"They'll never leave me alone, not once they find out who I am. After all, in a way, I am one of them."

"Why even bother telling me all this?" Tomoyo asked. She didn't want to know. She had never asked to become involved with any of his schemes. She just wanted to be left alone.

"Because, you are one of the forces I can't predict. I can't see you anymore. You're just a haze that obscures the future everywhere that you touch it, like that girl down there and a few others. They've already made their choice, Tomoyo-chan, soon, you are going to have to decide on which path you really want to take. When you do, it could save the lives of your friends or destroy everything, everyone's lives, and everything I've worked so hard to set into motion."

Tomoyo laughed. It was a half-crazed laugh that would have scared anyone who heard it. "You think I care? I don't care about anything or anyone anymore. Why the hell should I. Everything I care about is taken away from me. I'm always alone, so why shouldn't I do what I want." Tomoyo grabbed Eriol by the collar and glared directly into his eyes, "I don't have magic, or anything that really matters, but I swear, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that neither of you get anything that you want."

Eriol looked unbearably saddened by her response. This startled Tomoyo, dampening her crazed fury.

"What do you want?" Tomoyo asked, she really had no idea. For all she knew, his goals could be the most righteous aspirations in the world, but she doubted it.

"The same thing that everyone else has, the chance to be happy."


	16. One Sakura, Two Sakura

**Chapter 16: One Sakura, Two Sakura**

* * *

Sakura trembled in fear as she watched the darker version of herself fight Rusaki Akila. Her other half was fighting brutally. She was striking at the weak points of Akila's body with her card-enhanced strength, attempting to cause as much damage as possible.

"Please stop! We don't have to fight each other," She begged. She didn't want her other self to do this. What Akila had done was mean and hurtful and would cause her and Syaoran pain problems for weeks to come, but that was not a good enough reason to hurt her. It would be better if they talked it out and overcame their differences.

"I'm not just fighting her, I'm killing her!" The dark Sakura yelled excitedly. She swung a fist at Akila's head. Akila dodged, leaning back and doing a handspring to avoid tripping over a bench. Sakura leapt over the bench after her. As Sakura came down, she struck out with a partially closed hand as if she meant to rip Akila's heart from her chest.

"I call upon Ra, let me be his vessel!" Akila cast her spell quickly. She took half a step back and caught Sakura's hand in her own. Akila's eyes now shone with a fiery golden light. A third eye had appeared and opened up in the middle of her forehead. This eye was blood red and spun around, watching in every direction.

"You're never going to get the chance to lay even a single finger on my Syaoran!" The other Sakura yelled as she punched with her free arm. Akila caught this punch as well. Their strength was equally matched, but Akila seemed to have more experience fighting. She took a deep breath and looked confidently at Sakura.

Sakura head butted Akila hard in the chin. Akila's head flew back and she released her breath with a cry of pain and a spray of blood. Along with the escaped breath came a large fireball which flew into the air. She had not been expecting such vulgar brawling tactics.

"Someone tell me what's going on!" Kagetora roared. He was in completely over his head. Syaoran took advantage of the distraction and elbowed him in the gut. Kagetora's restraining hold on Syaoran loosened and Syaoran squirmed free. He dove for the innocent version of Sakura. She rolled out of the way and was cornered by the edge of the ring. She cowered there, clutching the bottle she desperately did not want Syaoran to have.

"Just give me the bottle. Everything will be all right." Syaoran smiled reassuringly at Sakura as he slowly reached for the drugged bottle.

* * *

"A chance to be happy? My only chance to be happy is to have you freaks out of my life!" Tomoyo stood up and stormed away from Eriol and out of the protective shield that he had erected. Eriol watched her leave. There was nothing else he could think of to say to her, at least nothing that would not make her angrier.

Tomoyo turned and glared at him one last time. She didn't even see it coming. A large burning orb hit her right in the chest. It exploded violently sending her flying.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol exclaimed. There was nothing left where she'd been standing except charred concrete and splatters of plastic from the cheap stadium seating.

* * *

Syaoran crouched over Sakura and used his superior strength to begin prying her fingers off of the bottle. Sakura squirmed and twisted trying to keep it away from him.

"Please stop," Sakura begged. His nails dug into her hands, drawing blood.

"Everything will be fine when you give it to me. Don't you want me to be happy?" He had already figured out that Sakura was split into the good and evil halves of her personality and was trying to use it against her. "This is what I need to take away all my pain." Her grip on the bottle was loosening. He knew that it would only take a little more to make her give it up.

"I can't let you have this. It will only make you worse." She curled her body around the bottle as tight as she could. She wished that she could just pour out the drink and the drug down the nearest drain. She couldn't do it though, because she didn't know what was in it. As much as she didn't want to hate Akila, she also didn't trust the girl. Anything could have been added to the drink. She had to protect it until she could give it to the doctors so that they could help Syaoran.

"Idiot!" Meiling came up from behind Syaoran and knocked him unconscious with a blow to the back of his head.

* * *

"This is going to be fun!" The dark Sakura smiled as she stood over Akila who was holding her hand over her injured jaw. Sakura raised her wand and swung it towards Akila's face with all of her might.

"Baasht pwrotesht shmee!" Akila's jaw would not move properly as she called out her spell. Sakura's staff struck a powerful barrier and stopped.

"Power!" Sakura doubled the effect of the strength on her and the magical barrier began to crack under the pressure. Before it could completely give way, the barrier exploded. Sakura raised her arms in front of her face to protect herself, but was sent flying backwards by the force of the blast.

Sakura grunted as she landed and the wind was knocked out of her. She was several feet from where she had been standing. Her ears were ringing. Her other goody-two-shoes self was nearby, timidly watching her. Kagetora was completely baffled and kept muttering, asking what was going on. Meiling was talking into her cellphone, giving orders to people who had not yet entered the building due to the attempts of the crowd to exit it. Syaoran was lying unconscious in Sakura's lap. She had been too busy fighting to see what had happened, but she knew that only Meiling would have done that to him.

"Once I finish with Akila, you're next," She muttered, angrily. Syaoran was hers; no one else was allowed to hurt him, or to touch him. She groaned and turned her head painfully. Her body would probably hurt for a while.

"Nyao..." From her position on the floor, Sakura saw a cat staring out of one of the open bags. Its body was pure black and it emitted a sinister energy. Sakura quickly figured out what it was.

"A talisman spirit." She stood up slowly, testing to make sure that her injuries were not too serious Akila was lying completely still. Sakura knew that she had at least a little time before her enemy could move again. "I'll capture you, and then I'll test you on her," Sakura said to the spirit as she raised her wand, "Spirit, give up your power and bind yourself under my contract."

The drain on her magic reserves was phenomenal, it seemed even worse than when the strength had been sealed. As she focused on sealing the spirit, her arms began to tremble and she fell to her knees. She almost had it. She poured more and more energy into the sealing until she had nothing more to give. The spirit was losing cohesion and being sucked out of the animal in front of her, but she had no energy left. She was no longer channeling the power of her star, but using her own body's reserves. She was so close to sealing it that she couldn't let herself stop...

No, she didn't have enough... "Too late to stop..." Sakura wheezed as her dessicated body collapsed to the floor dead. Next to her a card appeared: The Yin. It floated lazily over to the still living Sakura.

* * *

Sakura watched in horror as her other half died. It was not a sight she had ever wanted to see. Her corpse was completely drained, like a mummy. It stared at her. She grabbed Syaoran's body and hugged it tightly. Her imagination showed her images of the body getting up and walking around on its own. She still hated scary things.

"Nyao..." A white cat walked up to her and rubbed against her. It purred comfortingly and nudged her key. Sakura pulled away, startling it.

* * *

Eriol panicked. Had Tomoyo been vaporized? He walked to the molten crater. There was no sign that she had ever stood there. He focused on his foresight, looking for any future where Tomoyo survived. The future was bathed in shadows. He could see others around, but many of them were in shadows. Those he did see all had futures that led to their own death, or his. He couldn't see her, not even the fuzzy future he had gotten from her before.

"I just have to calm down," He tried to reassure himself. He stood in the center of the blast and looked around and found Tomoyo standing behind him, completely unharmed.

"Tomoyo!" He smiled gratefully and breathed a sigh of relief as possibilities for a happy future glimmered faintly in the deepest corners of his mind. Tomoyo seemed to be in shock.

"How am I alive?" She rubbed some dirt off of her dress and hands. The explosion had knocked her down into an aisle. There was a sticky spot on her elbow where she had landed in an old spilled beverage.

"The gem I put in your hair protected you," Eriol said, relieved, "I took it from a member of a group called Templar that hunt down and execute anyone that uses magic. It absorbs magical energy from the environment and uses it to cancel or deflect any magical attack. I modified it so that it could accept my magic, though still protect you," Eriol explained.

"You're saying that you are now unable to hurt me or control me in any way?" Tomoyo smirked in satisfaction and slapped him. The thought of him being unable to do anything to her filled her with a sense of freedom. He was responsible for all of her pain, and now he wouldn't be able to manipulate her anymore.

"Goodbye," Tomoyo walked towards the nearest exit. "It's good to be free."

"I'll see you soon," Eriol sighed. He looked back down towards the battle. It was as he had predicted. Both of the girls had died. He could see possibilities though. The way to fix this situation had entered his view now that the unpredictable elements were leaving the area. Things would turn out all right, and he didn't have to interfere at all. Maintaining a safe distance, he followed Tomoyo.

* * *

The Yin landed in the living Sakura's lap. The white cat pawed at the card, forlornly mewing.

"You just want to be with your friend, don't you," Sakura realized and stroked it, "but I can't transform you on my own. Didn't you see what happened to her?"

The white cat's big eyes shimmered as if it was on the verge of tears. Sakura could not bear seeing anything so cute and sad.

"You will have to help me," She said, "Key of the star, reveal our true form before me. Sakura commands you under the contract. Release!" Her wand was pure white with a pale blue star. It would have been a perfect accessory if it had belonged to Yue since it matched his color scheme so perfectly. Sakura focused as much power as she dared into a glowing sphere that hovered between the wings of the wand. "Take this power and use it, discard the power you once had and bind you under my contract."

The cat reached out a paw and batted the ball of energy. In no more energy than it took to transform a Clow Card into a Sakura card, the cat transformed into The Yang. She still had plenty of the energy she had amassed left. She absorbed it, sending it back where it belonged.

Sakura looked at her new cards. The Yin showed a black tiger with white stripes, and the Yang was a white tiger with black stripes. When she put them together, she was surprised when the two cards became one. It was a tiger with two heads, the top black and the bottom white. Instead of a single name, the card had three. Above the black tiger was 'Yin'. Below the white tiger was 'Yang'. Across the border between the two was 'Balance'.

* * *

Meiling and Kagetora were doing their best to revive Sakura's other body. Men and women in Li uniforms were entering the stadium from all entrances. The people who had been attempting to leave had all been stopped in the parking lot. They would all have their memories erased before they returned home. Sakura stood up and then walked by Kagetora and Meiling to kneel at the other side of her body.

Kagetora seemed to be in shock and glanced unbelievingly between the two Sakura's until a Li came up and grabbed his arm. He was led away, given the comforting assurance that everything would be explained to him. Sakura wondered if he would be okay. Another man picked up Syaoran.

"What should we do with him?" The Li agent asked Sakura.

"Take him to the hospital and make sure he's restrained." Meiling ordered. The agent glanced at Sakura, waiting for her approval. Sakura nodded, slightly. It was enough for the man.

"What will we do with her?" Another agent asked. He held the body of Akila. Her once flawless jaw line now had a large bloody dent and most of her body was covered in burns and cuts from the explosion. Sakura could not even guess in how many places the jaw had been broken, or how many internal injuries had been caused by the concussion of the explosion. Akila's eyes held a vacant look. Sakura had seen the same look on Rusaki Numaru's face the first time she had killed him.

"Burn the body." Meiling ordered.

"No!" Sakura couldn't allow that to happen. She had already been responsible for too many deaths. She did not want to hurt the Rusaki family any more than she already had. She reached out and touched the dry, cracked skin of her other half's corpse. "Give her back to her family."

"Are you sure? Their family has magic that can –"

"Just do it, please..." Sakura had an idea. It was a dangerous idea. "I am going to try something. I may need more magic, or maybe even a doctor when I'm done."

A minute later, every agent that was not otherwise occupied was standing at the ready around Sakura. A pair of paramedics also stood by, ready to give her medical attention.

"Please, tell us what you're going to do," the highest ranking Li officer said. "We'll be of more help if we know what you're doing."

"I'm raising the dead," Sakura said, simply. They had warned her in her magic lessons that death raising spells usually required many living sacrifices to restore their life and that she should never try it. Sakura knew that the same thought was probably going through all the Li's heads at that moment. It was their duty to stop her so that she wouldn't kill herself. Before they could react to what she had said, she activated her new card. "Balance, make me whole."

The corpse shimmered for a moment then seemed to be sucked into Sakura. It felt like her entire body was on fire. Magic was being drained from every one of her cells. The Li agents were futilely trying to replenish her, but their energy was much too weak or incompatible with her own.

"Damn, dying hurts..." she rasped before collapsing.

* * *

The parking lot was crowded. As people tried to leave, they were stopped by police vans by the exits. The occupants of the cars were taken from their vehicles and into the vans. After several minutes they would return from the vans and be allowed to leave. Tomoyo wondered what was going on inside.

Tomoyo walked towards the exit. She hoped that she could get by and call for a ride once she left. As she tried to pass by the police blockade, a man who looked nothing like a police officer stopped her.

"We will need to take your statement. Please, come with me." He was not allowing her any other choice. He grabbed her arm in a vice-like grip and pulled her into one of the vans. "Wait here and an officer will be with you in a second." He closed the door and locked her in.

Tomoyo sat there for several minutes in the almost blackness of the windowless van. It seemed as if no one was coming for her. Perhaps they had something different in store for her because she had tried to sneak by. The van suddenly became brighter. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out. Wind whipped by her as she was whisked away.

"Eriol?" She could barely see because of the wind that stung her eyes.

"We can't stop for a second," Eriol told her. "You tried to evade them, and you know too much. They'll either erase all your memories or kill you if they catch you."

Tomoyo went stiff with fear. She could still remember the dream she had seen where Syaoran had killed her for hurting Sakura. It had haunted her restless nights several times a week ever since the night her videos of Sakura had all been erased. None of the repeat dreams had been as intense as the original, but she had already been scared enough.

"Won't the gem protect me?"

"From the memory alteration..."

Tomoyo gripped Eriol tightly as he began to speed up. At least, that is why she told herself she was holding onto him. She wanted nothing more than for him to leave her alone, but he never did. Now he was risking his own life to save hers. That wasn't right. He knew things. He would not risk his life like this. He must know that he would survive.

Eriol turned suddenly. "They've detected us." Tomoyo heard a gunshot.

Eriol stumbled and they fell. Tomyo screamed.

"Don't move," Eriol whispered, "I'm fine... It's all part of my plan."

The ground under them disappeared. They fell into a large sewage pipe. Eriol covered Tomoyo's nose and mouth with his hand as they were immersed in the disgusting water. Eriol stood up and lifted Tomoyo out of the sewage.

"I have some extra clothes for you at my house. No one else will see, or smell, you like this." Eriol promised.

Eriol began to run along the pipe towards the stadium.

"Why are we going back?" Tomoyo chocked out through the noxious fumes. Even breathing through her mouth could not curb the rancid stench that permeated the dark tunnel. Tears were forming in her eyes. She didn't know whether it was from the smell, or that she now realized that she was dependent on the person she hated most in the world.

"Because they think we're going the other way."

Eriol ran for several minutes. Tomoyo had no idea where they were when Eriol passed through the pipe again in the middle of a wooded area.

"We've lost them," he said, "They won't find us now." He was breathing deep and labored breaths. All the running had taken a lot out of him.

Tomoyo breathed a deep sigh of relief as she finally stood on her own legs in the grass then vomited from the smell. Eriol waved his staff and the two of them were doused in warm, clean, water and then dried by a hot wind.

"That should help a bit." Eriol's nose twitched as if he could still smell the rank odor of the sewage that had coated them. He turned his back to her and dropped to one knee. "Climb on."

"I'll walk on my own," Tomoyo said. He said they were safe, and she was relatively clean and dry, there was no reason to stay with him anymore.

"If you insist," Eriol said, pointing in a direction, "Walk that way for thirty hours or so and you should begin to recognize the area."

Tomoyo sighed exhaustedly and climbed onto his back.

"Hold on tight." Eriol jumped. He flew high over the treetops.

"Bastard," Tomoyo grunted as she was forced to grip him tightly around the neck. If they weren't so high up she would have liked to strangle him. Looking around, Tomoyo could see the sewage treatment plant receding behind them while the city buildings grew closer in front. They landed on a treetop and Eriol jumped again.

"Sorry. I am not as graceful as Sakura," They bounced off of another branch.

"You're doing this on purpose." Tomoyo said. She was forced to hold him tightly, almost intimately as they flew through the air.

"Well, if this is not to your tastes..." His staff grew wings and he began to fly, looping and corkscrewing through the air. "How's this?"

"I hate you." Tomoyo replied as she clutched him even tighter.

"Your mouth protests, even as you cling to me," Eriol chided and went into a steep dive. They were now racing between buildings, avoiding concrete walls by mere inches.

The scenery was a blur as it passed. Tomoyo just closed her eyes and held on tight, fearing for her life. Then they stopped. She opened her eyes and saw that they were inside.

"Last stop, my room."

"Idiot..." Tomoyo trembled, "Are you trying to kill us?!"

"I promised that no one would see you in your current state." Eriol gently pried her hands off of him. "Come now, you must want a proper bath and change of clothes even more than I do.

He led her through one of the doors into a large bathroom. There was a large European style tub with lion's feet. The floor was tiled in white marble and the walls were paneled with dark wood at the bottom and painted dark blue at the top. The sink was set on a tiled marble counter. The faucet was shaped as a lion's head, and the knobs looked almost like a pair of wings.

"I'll leave a change of clothes out for you. I hope you don't mind, but they will have to be some of Nakuru's."

"Whatever."

Eriol opened a closet and brought out a fresh set of towels. "You can use these when you're done." He glanced around for a moment and then sighed. "You'll probably need this as well." A half empty bottle of shampoo appeared in his hand, "If you forget it here, I'll bring it over in the morning."

Tomoyo took the bottle from him. It was the same one that had been in her bathroom moments earlier.

Eriol turned off the water. It was crystal clear for a few moments, and then he made a thick layer of bubbles appear on top.

"Just leave your clothes in the hamper. I'll burn them for you."

Tomoyo started to laugh. Her clothes still held the stench of sewers and the colors had become a medley of greens and browns and grays that were not at all appealing.

"It's the first time you've ever said anything that I could not think of a reason to disagree with you." It felt good to laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed.

"You should do that more. Brooding really doesn't suit you." Eriol said and left, closing the door behind him.

Tomoyo stripped and then immersed herself in the water. Relaxing in the tub, she reflected on the events that had transpired, and on everything she had learned. The awful memories of Laishi's death resurfaced, bolstered by the newly spread anger.

Tomoyo cried until the water became uncomfortably cold. She let the cold water drain, then refilled the tub with fresh hot water. To her surprise, the bubbles remained.

After washing her hair several times, Tomoyo felt that she was as clean as she was going to get. She emerged from the tub and dried herself off. She wrapped a large towel around her body and a smaller one wrapped her hair. She checked her appearance in the mirror. She looked tired. Her eyes were red from crying and there were dark bags under them, but for the first time in a long time, Tomoyo felt almost normal.


	17. Back To School

**Chapter 17: Back to School**

* * *

Sakura's tongue felt like sand paper. It stuck to the roof of her mouth annoyingly. What she wanted most right now was a nice cool glass of water. She rolled over, intending to crawl out of her bed and go to the washroom to sate her thirst. A cold metal bar pressed against her skin through a thin paper-like robe. She opened her eyes to see the sterile white of a hospital room. It was not the room she was used to having when she or Syaoran were in the hospital. Across the room, Syaoran was in a bed similar to hers, but his arms and legs were tied with leather cuffs to the metal bars.

Sakura tried to sit up. Her head swam with the movement and her muscles felt weak. The level of exertion was painfully obvious in her muscles. She collapsed down on the bed, feeling the uncomfortable tug of an intravenous needle in her arm. Near her head, there was a little controller with a button attached to a cord. It was the nurse call button. Sakura stretched her arm out and let her palm fall on the button, hearing a reassuring ping come from outside the door.

A few minutes passed and then a large man, an orderly not a nurse, entered the room. He smiled pleasantly.

"How are you doing? Can I get you anything?" The man asked pleasantly, showing more bedside manner than nurses usually did. His soft calming tone seemed to be in blatant contrast to the man's body-builder physique.

Sakura tried to speak, but the dryness in her mouth and throat prevented it. She mimed holding a glass to her lips and drinking.

"You're thirsty," the orderly smiled at her again as if to assure her of his good intentions. "I'll bring you something right away. I'll also send for your doctor."

Sakura nodded passively at the orderly. Usually the hospital employees were business-like in their, usually rare, interactions It was one of the benefits to having a private family doctor, which was a necessity for maintaining secrecy.

The orderly walked out of sight and into the bathroom. The tap ran for a moment. He came back a moment later with a soft, plastic, disposable cup that was three quarters full of water. He placed the water carefully on a nearby table.

"Now let's get you up. We wouldn't want you to choke." Using a crank at the end of the bed, The orderly adjusted the angle of the head of the bed until Sakura was in a relatively seated position.

"Now let's go slowly. We don't want you to choke." The repeated phrase seemed practiced, almost an instinctual addition to his actions as he placed the glass to her lips and gently tilted it so a small sip of water flowed into her mouth. The dry stickiness in her mouth was washed away.

"Thank you," Sakura rasped, reaching up to tilt the glass again. After another sip, her strength had returned to the point that she was able to clasp the vessel in her own hands. She was very grateful to the nice man who seemed so concerned about her, "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble at all. It's a pleasure to work with someone so polite. I'll go and send for someone to see you now." The orderly left, humming a faint, pleasantly calming, tune as he went.

Sakura saw the scene outside the door when it opened. There were some patients walking the halls aimlessly, and others huddled in corners. There were a few orderlies but no nurses in sight. In the patients, Sakura recognized the desperate and jittery look of recovering drug addicts. They had put her in the addiction ward. She was suddenly overcome with concern for Syaoran as she recalled the mysterious substance that had been in his drink.

Sakura sat up under her own power and swung her legs over the metal bars of the bed. It was much easier than when she had first woken up. She stood up. Her legs almost buckled under her. She grabbed the edge of the bed to keep herself steady. After a few moments, the strength of her legs seemed to grow powerful enough to hold herself up. She stepped towards Syaoran.

The needle in her arm tugged as it reached the end of the tube that attached it to a stand holding a bag of clear liquid marked 'saline'. She pulled off the tape holding the needle in, making sure that the needle did not get pulled to the side. Then she carefully slid the needle out of her arm.

She then took the few wobbly steps to cross the room to Syaoran's bed. She lay down next to him, exhausted from the short trip. He didn't seem to be doing too bad right now. His eyes opened, looking at her.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm fine," Syaoran replied, "but your leg is making the restraint pull a bit."

"Sorry," Sakura replied abashedly. She rolled over a bit so that she was laying half on top of Syaoran who began to blush.

"Are you doing okay?" Syaoran asked.

"Just really tired," Sakura replied. She reached across the bed and began picking at the strap that held Syaoran's arm.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Syaoran asked, "It's not easy right now. You can't know what I'll do."

"I don't have anything you want, and outside that door are some rather large men who will stop you from looking for it elsewhere," Sakura replied, "You don't need this, do you?" The strap came undone and Syaoran wrapped his arm around Sakura.

"You're wrong about one thing at least," he murmured as he ran a finger along the slit in the back of the hospital robe, "You definitely have what I want."

Sakura shivered, suppressing a giggle as the tickle of his light touch trailed along her spine. He leaned forward to kiss Sakura, but was interrupted with the door burst open and the doctor walked in, followed by the orderly.

"Hello," the doctor said, not bothering to introduce himself. He quirked a thick, black eyebrow at the position Sakura and Syaoran were currently in. He scratched his wild black hair, just behind his rapidly receding hairline and then pushed his small wire-framed spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

Syaoran quickly, but reluctantly, rolled Sakura off of himself so that her back would not be visible, giving the doctor a quick glare.

"Let's see what we have to say about you two," the doctor declared after Syaoran's shuffling stopped. He held the two folders in front of him. He took a red pen from his pocket and tapped it along the edge of the paper and mumbled incoherently as he rapidly read the files. "Kinomoto Sakura," he said as he read from the first chart, "Extreme exhaustion and dehydration. You're free to go as soon as you're feeling up to it."

"So, I am fine then."

"Nothing a bit of water and a good nap won't cure," the doctor replied.

"What about Syaoran? Did you find out what was in that bottle?" She grabbed on to Syaoran's hand and squeezed it worriedly.

"Li Syaoran... His case is a little more difficult. We don't know what was in that drink, though several compounds in it resembled heroine and other opiates. It seems to be blended specifically to make cravings for itself. All the drugs seem to last only a short time, but the time it will take to detox varies from a few hours to months. We've never seen anything like this before. It's quite an impressive cocktail."

"Will he be okay?" Sakura asked, slightly upset by the doctor's dismissive and insensitive behavior.

"We gave him opiate inhibitors, which should help him to detox quicker, but we can't be sure how long it will be. I would recommend having him remain here for a long-term addiction program since his chart says that he has a history of abusing prescription opiates."

There was a brief pause.

"Any other questions?" the doctor finally said.

"Can we go home now?" Sakura asked hopefully.

* * *

The doctor had been quite reluctant to release Syaoran from the hospital's care, but couldn't force him to stay, especially after a call from Dr. Ling assuring him that Syaoran would be receiveing the best care possible at home, and that anything less than releasing him into family custody would result in a rather nasty lawsuit, if he wasn't fired first.. A few hours later, Sakura and Syaoran were both dressed and had been driven home by Wei.

"I'm sorry..." Syaoran said to Sakura once they were alone in his room.

"It wasn't your fault," Sakura told him, "You didn't know what was in it."

"I still shouldn't have acted the way I did. I hurt you."

"You scared me, but I'm not hurt," Sakura replied, "Just promise me that you won't eat anything she gives you."

"I can't," Syaoran replied guiltily, "I could have before, but now... I don't want to, but if she shows up again and just hands the drugs to me... I will probably use them if you don't stop me. I don't think I can stop myself."

"It will be okay. I believe in you," Sakura said reassuringly, "But since it is that difficult for you, I am worried. School starts tomorrow."

"Let's just stay home; we can get tutors to catch us up later."

"We can't. We have a responsibility to go, and to learn. It wouldn't be appropriate to chain ourselves together either."

"I won't leave your side if I can help it," Syaoran promised.

"Is it that hard to stay with me?" Sakura asked coyly.

"No, but if I have to use the washrooms, it would be impolite to the other boys if I brought you with me."

"And if I had to go?"

"I'd only look at you so it shouldn't bother anyone else."

Sakura shoved him playfully, "I'm more worried about them looking at you."

* * *

A black sedan awaited Tomoyo outside of her house. Without thinking, she climbed into the back seat and the car took off towards school.

"I didn't expect you to come so easily. You usually resist spending time with me." Eriol said from the driver's seat, startling Tomoyo.

"I thought," Tomoyo paused and then scowled, "Let me out."

"We're almost to school. It's my first day, so why don't you come with me and show me around. It shouldn't be too hard, we have all the same classes." Eriol asked, sounding almost like he as begging, despite the smile on his face.

"I suppose you'd know that wouldn't you?" Tomoyo said, acting disinterested.

"Sakura and Syaoran are in the same classes as well." Eriol said ominously.

"But I chose different-"

"It seems the registrar's office had a little accident and confused the electives of a few students. It's not so bad though, you are just continuing the same courses you took last year." Eriol promised lightly, "I am sure you can find a way to get along with them."

"Just take me home. I'll apply to go to a different school."

"I don't think that would be right. The only other school here is the government school, and that is horribly underfunded. You would never get a proper education."

"Then I'll hire a tutor," Tomoyo argued

"You'd have no social life, no friends, you'd be all alone."

"Just let me out of the car!"

"As you wish." Eriol turned the vehicle into a parking space and got out, waiting for Tomoyo to do the same. When she did not, Eriol opened the door for her with a bow. "Please Tomoyo, walk of your own accord. You would be embarrassed beyond belief if I had to carry you to class."

"What gives you the right to do anything to me?" Tomyo asked angrily, her brow furrowed into a glare that was only slightly less potent than a Li's.

"Because I got the job."

"What job?

"I am your new personal bodyguard," Eriol replied, "Didn't your mother tell you?"

Tomoyo vaguely remembered a hurried call about having found a replacement. She had not expected it to be him. She wanted it to be anyone other than him.

"Why you?" Tomoyo scowled childlishly.

"I was strong enough to fight the other bodyguards and win, I am able to stay by your side inconspicuously, even in school, and your mother is not quite as resistant as you are to my roguish good looks and charm." Eriol ran his fingers through his hair with flair.

"So you hypnotized her into doing it,"

"It sounds better the way I said it," Eriol said flatly. He reached in and unbuckled Tomoyo's seatbelt for her.

"Hey what are you doing?" Tomoyo struggled as Eriol picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"I am doing what any good bodyguard would do, protecting you from being tardy."

* * *

Sakura made sure that she and Syaoran arrived at school early. She wanted to make sure that there were not too many people at first, just in case there was a problem. Luckily, Syaoran seemed to be having little trouble. Just to be sure, they claimed the seats in the back of the classroom by the window.

The classroom was pretty standard. Here were four white walls, slightly yellowed with age. At the front was a large wooden desk which was impeccably eat, especially compared to the blackboard that could be seen above it and had been tagged by many students who wanted to make their mark on the class in the first day. One wall was lined with cupboards with doors at the front and back of the classroom. The other wall was mostly windows overlooking the school yard and a line of low shelving units running below to a larger metal cabinet that contained the room's cleaning supplies. He back wall was mostly covered by an empty bulletin board, waiting to showcase any exceptional work, as well as the duty roster and other important information.

Rika was the first of their friends to arrive. Her delicate steps were not quite soft enough to stop the slight wave in the bottom of her shoulder-length hair from bobbing pleasantly as she walked.

"Sakura!" Rika greeted with reserved excitement, "I thought you would be studying in Japan this year."

"Syaoran hired my father to do some work here, just so I could be here." Sakura replied.

"I'm glad you're back."

Naoko was next to arrive with her nose buried in a horror novel, she didn't even notice anyone else. Sakura decided to wait until later to talk to her since she did not want any discussion of scary topics.

"I didn't make that up!" Takashi burst into the room, chased by his long time girlfriend Chiharu.

"Like I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth."

"Chiharu, Sakura is back." Rika interrupted the lover's quarrel.

"Sakura, we missed you!" Chiharu bounded over, temporarily forgetting about Takashi, "We barely saw you at the end of semester last year, and then we thought that you'd be gone for a year."

"Hopefully things will be better this year," Sakura replied, "It's good to see you all again."

Just before the bell rang, Sakura saw Eriol strut into the classroom carrying a struggling Tomoyo over his shoulder. Several people snickered. Sakura couldn't tell whether Tomoyo was blushing from embarrassment or because being slung over Eriol's shoulder had made the blood rush to her head.

"Morning Tomoyo," Sakura called out, only to be ignored. She felt disappointed, but was encouraged that Tomoyo had gone from lashing out at her to ignoring her. It seemed like a step in the right direction.

Terada-sensei followed Eriol and Tomoyo in, sparing a not-well-concealed smile for Rika who blushed. The relationship between the two was obvious to pretty much everyone, but they still had to avoid any impropriety for the sake of his job, at least for one more year.

"Good morning everyone," Terada said, glancing around the room, "It's good to see you all again. The first thing I'd like to do today is introduce the new students who will be joining us this year. You all probably remember Sakura. Though she transferred out at the end of last year, she's back for another year with us. As for students who are actually new, the first you already see here. The young man carrying your classmate here is Hiiragizawa Eriol. Please introduce yourself."

"It is good to be here. Please call me Eriol. I am from England where it is customary to call people by their given names. I am here, not just for school as you can see." Eriol finally put Tomoyo down, ignoring the scowl she was giving him, "I was hired to protect this lovely lady as her main bodyguard, so please be on your best behavior, even if she isn't." When she tried to elbow him for his comment, he caught her arm, "Well shall we sit down? I see there's a pair of seats right over there."

Eriol dragged Tomoyo to a pair of desks second from the back and a row away from the windows, forcing Tomoyo to sit within arm's reach of Sakura's desk.

"Let me go," She hissed, "There's another seat over there." Eriol pushed her firmly down into the seat he had chosen for her.

"I'm sorry, but for your safety, I must remain by your side at all times," Eriol replied with mock seriousness, "We wouldn't want any more of my careful planning to go to waste."

"I couldn't care less about your planning."

"The sooner you get used to this, the sooner you'll start enjoying yourself," Eriol whispered, "Besides, you know what happened last time I changed my plans."

Tomoyo froze in shock, remembering the conversation from the martial arts tournament. Before Tomoyo could think of a scathing reply, the teacher began talking again.

"Our other new student is called Rusaki Akila. Some of you may remember her brother who died in an accident last year. We are especially glad to have her join our class because she has skipped two grades."

The door opened and Akila entered, smiling directly at Syaoran.

"Please welcome her to our class," Terada said.

"Hello, as you have already heard, my name is Rusaki Akila. I am here to take Syaoran away from Sakura because I am stronger, smarter, and simply more qualified to be the next head of the Li family than she is," She stated directly. The room went deathly quiet.

Sakura took Syaoran's hand in her own and squeezed it.

"Well she's honest at least," Syaoran said, easily heard over the silence of the rest of the class. The tension dissipated slightly and hushed whispers were exchanged.

"Please take a seat." Terada said. Even he seemed put off by the strange introduction.

Luckily for Sakura and Syaoran, the only available seat was half way across the classroom.

* * *

Surprisingly, despite the various sources of tension, the morning seemed to go by rather peacefully. Tomoyo and Eriol would occasionally bicker when Eriol tried to 'help' Tomoyo with her work, but overall the class was civil. It was on the way to lunch that the first incident occurred. As Sakura and Syaoran were leaving the classroom, they had to pass by Akila who was highlighting her notes from class.

In a moment when Sakura's eyes glanced away, Syaoran felt a hand dip into his pocket for a moment. His head whipped around to look at Akila. She smiled at him and continued working.

"Something wrong?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran put his hand into his pocket and felt two small rounded objects. He shrugged and continued walking.

"I need to go to the washroom," Syaoran said, breaking away from Sakura.

"Okay, but please hurry up. I was so worried that I didn't eat much this morning."

"I'll be back in a minute." He pushed through the door and then headed into the first stall. He took out the objects in his pocket. It was two oblong pills, mostly white with brown specks. He glanced at the pills and then the toilet. He stood there for several seconds before he finally popped the pills into his mouth then flushed the toilet.

After washing his hands, Syaoran returned to Sakura. Akila was standing outside the classroom door, leaning against the wall. When he looked at her, she mimed taking a pill and then blew him a kiss before walking away down the hallway. Sakura had not seen what Akila had done, but noticed the odd, vacant look on Syaoran's face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"I guess coming to school was a little harder on me than we expected." He glanced down at the ground, trying to hide his shame.

"Let's go out to eat then," Sakura suggested.

* * *

Tomoyo watched enviously as Sakura and Syaoran walked off of the school property. Eriol had forced her to join him for lunch, saying that it was his duty to keep an eye on her. To be fair, the food he had prepared looked delicious, but Tomyo was loathe to give him the satisfaction of making her eat it.

"I didn't go to the trouble of making food so that you could just drool on it," Eriol remarked.

"You know that in some cultures, drooling on food is a compliment to the chef." Takashi announced as he approached them, in imminent danger of being attacked by Chiharu.

"Of course," Eriol replied before Chiharu could strangle Takashi, "I do appreciate the compliment, but the people of those countries tend to get ritual tongue piercings. It helps them to produce saliva to use when thanking the chef. Personally, I don't think that would look very flattering on Tomoyo."

"How about it Chiharu, do you want a tongue piercing? I think it would look hot."

"I'll pierce something alright," she replied with a glare, "And don't you dare encourage his lies, especially around Sakura and Syaoran. Those two are just too gullible."

"Nice to meet you," Takashi said, ignoring Chiharu's outburst, "I'm Yamazaki Takashi." He held out his hand. Eriol cordially shook it.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol. I am sure that we will get along well," He returned the greeting congenially.

Takashi turned toward Tomoyo and held open his arms as if he were expecting a hug. When no reaction was forthcoming, he sighed and said, "I don't see a friend for two months, and this is how I'm greeted? No love?"

"No hugs allowed, actually," Eriol said, "You might damage her ability to brood, and as her bodyguard, I can't allow that."

"And neither can I," Chiharu said, shooting another glare at her boyfriend.

Tomoyo sighed and picked up a sandwich. After all, it was better to at least get some gourmet food out of being forced to spend time with Eriol than nothing at all. He had even cut the crusts off.

* * *

After lunch, Syaoran discovered that more pills had been left, hidden in a fold of paper, on his desk. He palmed them as discreetly as he could and leaned his face on his hand. No one seemed to notice the minor deception, except for Akila who smirked at him, then turned to pay attention to the teacher.

Syaoran blinked his eyes when the classroom began to look warped. All of a sudden, he found himself lying huddled on the floor.

"Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping from her seat and kneeling over him. The teacher approached as well and Syaoran sat up.

"Sorry for the disturbance," he muttered, "The last few days were difficult and I'm still a little tired." He avoided eye contact, sure that his deception would be noticed if either the teacher or Sakura got a good look.

"Go lie down in the nurses office," the teacher told Syaoran. Syaoran nodded quickly and walked unsteadily out of the classroom.

* * *

"Sakura, can I talk to you for a moment?" Terada asked when the last bell had rung, "I'm a little concerned for Syaoran, he isn't looking... well."

"Everything is under control, Terada-sensei." Sakura tried to assure him.

"Are you sure? If you need to talk about anything, then please come to me."

"Syaoran's still recovering from what happened last year. We have the best doctors looking after him. Everything will be alright... I hope."

* * *

Syaoran stopped outside the classroom as the last bell rang. He had a powerful headache. His head was throbbing like a giant drum, and his hands were beginning to shake. The drugs had been strong initially, but had not lasted long.

Akila came out of the classroom and walked up to him with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Did you like them? It's not exactly what you're used to, but..."

"Are there more?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes, but no more freebies. You want some you have to do something for me."

"What do you want me to do?" Syaoran asked.

"We'll make the first one easy, all you have to do is take it from me, but you're only allowed to use your mouth." Akila took a pill out and placed it on her tongue.

Syaoran glared at her and she just smirked as she waited for him to make a decision.

* * *

Sakura was shocked at what she saw the moment she left the classroom. Syaoran leaned over and kissed Akila.


	18. Revenge

**AN:** I know many people have been getting worried that this story is getting too dark, that Sakura and Syaoran are failing too much. I'll tell you now that this is as bad as it's going to get. And this is pretty bad. Big revelations. Props to anyone who predicted the twist at the end, after all, I kept the clues rather oblique. I warn you now, that this chapter contains adult situations, and bad things. It is nothing compared to my other active story 'Lover and Tormentor', but considering the audience this series is aimed at, it's pretty bad. The bright side is that it can only go up... or at minimum horizontal, from here.

**Chapter 18: Revenge**

* * *

Syaoran swallowed the pill he'd taken from Akila's tongue with a sigh of relief. The ones he had gotten earlier had begun to wear off. A heavy, stomping step echoed through the hallways. He turned, along with everyone nearby to see Sakura slowly and deliberately heading towards him. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes narrowed in a glare that made his own usual glare look like the sorrowful eyes of a lost puppy.

"Li Xiao Lang..." Her fists were clenched so hard that her knuckles were white. She spat out his name like poison, her lips pulled back to bare her teeth in a snarl. Her body radiated an aura of magic so dark that Syaoran felt like he was suffocating. He tried to step away from her, but bumped into Akila. "How dare you..."

"Sakura... It's not what you think!" He had to struggle not to stammer in fear.

"You don't know what I think. How many times? How much are you going to betray me?" Sakura took another step towards him. Akila took a step away from him, as did anyone else who thought they were close enough to get caught in the crossfire.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I love you. I would never do anything to-"

"Then perhaps I should remind you! You think I didn't know? Do I look blind? How little do you think of me?" She grabbed the key hanging around her neck.

"Wait! Don't..." Syaoran was petrified. He had never seen Sakura act like this. Sakura would run away and cry, she would blame herself, or the drugs. She would not get angry. There was only one time he could remember that Sakura had acted anything like this. When she had been split by the balance, her dark half... "You're not yourself..."

"Key that hides the powers of my star, reveal your true form to me! Sakura commands it under the contract, RELEASE!"

The key of the star began to glow brightly. Gasps escaped the crowd. Syaoran could spare the time to think of them at the moment. The magical winds swirled around, gathering into the key, elongating it into the wand.

"Show me Syaoran. Show me how you betrayed me." She took out a card and held it up. "Return card, discard your former power and draw upon a new strength then show us the scenes of his betrayal!"

"There are people,"

"What's going on?"

"There's something-"

Protests were cut short when a hole opened up in the fabric of reality and Sakura and Syaoran were sucked through it.

* * *

Inky blackness extended in all directions.

"Do you understand your obligations?" a Li operative asked.

"I understand," Jade replied. She had no choice but to understand. Her duties were clear. Serve the Li clan with her life, or lose it.

"Then your first mission is to return to protect Fujitaka Kinomoto. We suspect that things are happening that will endanger his life if he is not protected."

"Protected from whom?" Jade asked.

"The emperor. He is plotting something, though we do not have any details at this time. Your actions have caused a great deal of turmoil, but he has allowed you to return anyway."

"I understand."

"Remember, you are always being watched. Return every day for reports and continued training. Do not tell anyone, not the Americans, nor the other students. If you need anything, you know where to find us."

"Yes, sir." Jade turned and withdrew a pendant. She focused her magic and it extended to form a pudao. It was unusual, but not unheard of for Li weapons to take the shape when formed.

"Yu mo gui gwaai fie di jao!" Jade chanted. The weapon glowed green and tugged in a direction. Jade walked, allowing her spell to lead her towards Alex O'Connell. It seemed like hours before she came to a door. Passing through it, she found herself in the broom closet of the research building. She reverted her weapon to its pendant state and closed the door to the void. When she opened it again she found the hallway that she had not seen since the expedition had left for their first visit to the Forbidden City. She headed towards the lab, passing by Furiya who gave her a disdainful look.

* * *

Syaoran found himself in his own room. A slightly younger version of himself was laying on the bed, completely out of it because of the drugs.

"This is it, isn't it? The day you stopped taking my calls." Sakura grabbed onto his arm. Her voice was cold, full of malice that sent shivers down his spine.

"Stop this. You don't want to do this," Syaoran said, trying not to wince in pain from her fingernails digging into his arm.

"No, you don't want me to do this. What is it you're afraid of? You wouldn't betray me twice would you?"

Syaoran shuddered.

"And there comes Meiling," Sakura stated, "I should have brought her along as well."

"Why... This should never have happened. Just leave it in the past. No one wants to remember this." She squeezed Syaoran's arm. His arm was filled with a sharp pain and went limp. She was squeezing one of his pressure points.

Meiling was carrying a bowl of water and a cloth. She placed it on a bedside table and sat next to him. She moistened the cloth in the cool water then wiped the sweat from his face.

"Isn't that sweet," Sakura said, "Look at how much she cared for you."

"Please stop this," Syaoran said.

"Don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I'll still love you," Sakura promised, "And you'll love me. If you don't or if you betray me..." She squeezed his arm again, pulling hard enough to send a jolt of pain through him from his shoulder.

"I'm not the only one who's not myself," Syaoran said through gritted teeth.

"Who else would I be?"

Meiling suddenly slammed the cloth down into the bowl, shattering it and sending a spray of water across the room.

"This can't go on!" Meiling said sadly and began searching the room. "You're not supposed to be like this. You're the future leader of the Li clan, not some weak willed drug junkie. You're supposed to be stronger than this."

Syaoran winced when he heard this.

"Sorry but this is for your own good." Meiling took the pills she had found and marched into the bathroom.

"Let's go see what happens, shall we?"

Syaoran placed his own body in front of Sakura to block her way.

The past Syaoran was now feeling for his pills. Not finding them, he got up. Meiling was just visible, pouring the contents of the medicine bottle into the bowl of the toilet. The past Syaoran's eyebrows arched downwards angrily and he ran into the bathroom, hitting the door on his way through and sending it smashing into the wall. A couple pieces of porcelain tile fell to the floor.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" the past Syaoran demanded.

"I think this is going to be the good part." Sakura pushed on Syaoran's shoulder forcing him into the washroom.

"What I should have done a long time ago!" Meiling replied to the past Syaoran defiantly. She purposefully pushed on the lever, flushing the toilet and sending Syaoran's pills spiraling down the drain.

The past Syaoran stared for several moments as if he couldn't believe that she had done that. "Fucking bitch!" he finally exclaimed. His fist flew out, catching Meiling by surprise. She collapsed backwards, falling into the bathtub. Her head bounced off of the metal faucet.

Syaoran turned away from the scene, attempting to block Sakura's view.

"Watch!" Sakura commanded, squeezing his shoulder and forcing him to turn.

Syaoran cried out in pain and was forced to do what she told him.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." he began whimpering.

"Not yet, you're not."

The past Syaoran climbed into the tub, leaning down on Meiling's neck with his good arm.

"I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice," he said, "You hurt me. You know that. I need those pills. It hurts so much."

Meiling tried to respond, but could only choke. She struggled. Syaoran loosened his hold on her neck. She tried to sit up but Syaoran slammed her down, stunning her again.

"I can't stand it, Meiling, I have to do something... anything. I just want the pain to go away."

Meiling groaned.

"I heard some things. It's like a drug. It will take away the pain, at least a little." Syaoran reached underneath Meiling's skirt, pulling her panties up her thighs.

"Don't..." Meiling groaned. A small trickle of blood was running across the clean white of the tub by Meiling's head.

"No! You don't! Don't talk back to me. This is what you've always wanted, isn't it?" Syaoran slapped her. "You want me to do this don't you? You want to help me!" Syaoran grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling down and tearing the garment to her navel and ripping her bra. He reached in and grabbed her breast, squeezing until she cried out in pain.

"What happened Syaoran? Tell me why?" Sakura said, squeezing his shoulder until he echoed Meiling's cry. "You know that all you had to do was send a jet and I would have come. I would have given myself to you. You could have done anything you wanted with me and I would have begged for more. Instead you do this. What happened to the love you promised to share with me?"

The past Syaoran brought out his penis and shoved it mercilessly into Meiling.

"I didn't want to do it. I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself..." Syaoran said shamefully, "I didn't want this to happen."

"If you didn't want to, then it wouldn't have happened. How many Syaoran? All those girls who fawn over you, you can't say that you never-"

"This was the first time. I was saving myself for you!" Syaoran yelled, "It was a mistake, a stupid, selfish, mistake that I would never have made if I hadn't been so messed up."

The past Syaoran pulled back. There was a trace of blood on his shaft. He thrust into her again and her body was pushed up the back of the tub. Her shoulder slammed into the spout which pulled back from the wall a bit. Meiling struggled some more. Syaoran punched her in the gut.

"That doesn't look like a mistake!" Sakura yelled angrily at him, squeezing harder and harder on his injury as the scene progressed.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Alex asked, "We were told that you got mugged in the park."

"I'm fine now," Jade replied, "I'm just upset that I lost to him."

"Strong mugger?"

"Stronger than me at least, I couldn't even touch him. How are things here?"

"Great actually, I found some pretty interesting stuff." Alex replied, "You wouldn't believe the amount of Egyptian hieroglyphics there are in the artifacts. Did you want to help me? I know you didn't get anything yourself."

"Yeah... I didn't get anything," Jade laughed nervously, "I heard there was some trouble, someone stole something from the city before we were sent home. Do you think we'll be allowed back?"

"You didn't know? We're going this weekend and staying an extra day. I'm hoping I can find whatever the link was to ancient Egypt. That would be an interesting discovery, but that will probably involve going through court records."

"I'll help. I am an expert at research. I have quite a bit of experience and I can read Chinese."

"And I can read Egyptian. We'd make a good couple."

"Team." Jade corrected, ignoring his tacky pick up lines as usual.

"Does Kinomoto-sensei know you're back?" Alex asked, not phased at all by Jade's casual dismissal. He'd been known to tactically retreat when the situation called for it, but giving up was not something he did often.

"No, I was going to see him next. Think you can teach me some of those manners so that I can actually get into the city this time?" Jade responded, tucking some stray hairs behind her ears.

"Sure, as soon as you do some translations for me."

* * *

The past Syaoran got up, leaving Meiling lying in the tub, exposed to anyone who could wander in. Her head had been hit too many times and she had become unconscious before Syaoran had finished with her. Her body was bruised in many places and except for one wound to her head, she did not appear to be bleeding anywhere.

Sakura let go of Syaoran and he collapsed onto the floor, clutching his shoulder. She kicked him.

"I'm sorry," he groaned. He hadn't stopped apologizing throughout the entire scene. "I don't want to hurt you... I didn't want to hurt her. I needed.... I shouldn't... I'm sorry."

"You're pitiful. You're weak. You're a failure. You can't even keep a simple promise. What the hell is wrong with me? What didn't I do for you?"

"It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I love you. I mean it. Please?"

"Like a stray dog, doing as you please whenever I am not looking."

The scene changed. Yelan was sitting at a desk in a room Sakura had never seen.

"There's more?" Sakura asked, her anger continuing to rise.

"I didn't. That's my father's office. I haven't even been there since he died..." Syaoran swore, bracing himself, waiting for her to hurt him again. It didn't happen. Meiling entered the room. She was freshly bandaged up.

"Please sit," Yelan said stiffly, agitated.

"You wanted to see me?" Meiling asked. She sat down on the carve wooden chair that was sitting opposite of Yelan. The walls were green. The ceiling was made of dark wooden panels, set on top of crown molding. The floor was a matching hardwood. The dark colors of the floor and ceiling contrasted the brighter red stain of the desk.

"I want you to leave." Yelan said.

"It wasn't my fault!" Meiling protested, "I didn't-"

"I know, but it can't ever happen. This is the only way to be sure."

"Why am I being sent away?"

"For the same reason that I could never allow you to be with Syaoran. If you were anyone else, I could have allowed it. I worked so hard to find someone else that he would let into his heart, someone that the elders would approve of."

"Why?"

"Your father, the man you knew as your father, was sterile. He couldn't have children. My husband was never sexually attracted to me when I was pregnant. He would even sleep in a different room. We would have used contraceptives if it was not his duty to provide heirs. We produced four girls. Then for a few years, nothing. Then I became pregnant with Syaoran.

"Xun, as usual, lost interest in me while I was pregnant. Your mother took advantage of him. She looked so much like me that it wasn't hard for her to convince him. It only took one night together to get her pregnant with you.

"You are not Syaoran's cousin. You are his sister..."

This was news to both Sakura and Syaoran.

"Sister! I... That's...." Syaoran stuttered.

"You...." Sakura was at a loss for words, blinking rapidly as she tried to digest the new information.

"He can't ever find out." Yelan said.

"I don't believe it. Why? I am just a proof of what he did, but you always treated me so well..."

"You are my husband's daughter, and as far as I am concerned, that makes you my daughter. Despite his faults I loved Li Xun with all of my heart. I was angry for a little while, but when I saw him smiling at Syaoran, holding him so tenderly, I couldn't help but forgive him."

"I think you're right. I need to leave," Meiling said, "I can't trouble you anymore."

"No one else knows what really happened. As far as anyone knows, you just fought. Sakura and Syaoran can never learn the truth."

"Syaoran... Are you okay?" Sakura asked, helping him get back to his feet. Her attitude had made an abrupt shift.

"I can't believe it. Why didn't I know!"

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. She hugged him tightly and cried into his chest, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't know what happened."

"I am the one who is sorry. I wish that it had never happened. Are you alright? I never wanted you to have to know about this."

"I knew. When Meiling first told me the story, the way she acted, I knew. I didn't want to see this. I didn't want to make you relive this. I know it wasn't your fault."

"You should be angry at me. I deserve it. I've been an idiot. I never should have let the drugs control me."

"I'll find a way to stop it. I promise."

"Sakura..."

"Everything will be alright. I'll find another way to take away the pain."

"Sakura, all I want is you. I'll be fine as long as you're by my side. That was the third time she gave me pills. I shouldn't have listened. I should have gotten rid of the first ones she gave me. I am an idiot."

"I was the one who hurt you. I even attacked your injury. How am I any worse?"

"You couldn't help it. When you merged with your other half, I don't think you fully merged. It wasn't you who hurt me. It was her. She was the one who did it. That's not the Sakura I know."

"But the card put me back."

"You were dead. You can't revive the dead without a sacrifice. There has never been a way. I think that what happened is that when you got angry at me, your other half took control and you died. When we found out about Meiling, you were shocked back to normal, or at least more normal. It will probably happen every time you get angry unless you sacrifice someone else to restore yourself."

"So it's either live with a split personality, or kill someone to save myself."

"I can't think of any other option."

"I can't do it."

"It will be fine."

"No, it won't I was going to kill you. I hated you for what you did to me... to Meiling."

The Return sent them back to the school. Meiling was waiting there for them.


	19. Revulsion

**Author's Notes:** Once again, my beta reader has stopped returning my private messages, so I have given up on beta readers for the moment. I apologize if the quality has a slight drop, but hopefully, I'll be good enough that you won't notice. Hopefully I'll be able to update much quicker as well.

**

* * *

Chapter 19: Revulsion**

"Sakura, what were you thinking? In front of the whole school!" Meiling had stood in the hallway of the school, just waiting for Sakura and Syaoran to return from their trip through the return. Her arms were crossed and her face set in a dark scowl.

"I'm sorry..." Sakura said, "I wasn't intending to do anything like that."

"It wasn't her fault. If anyone is at fault, it's me," Syaoran defended Sakura from Meiling's harsh words.

"There's plenty of blame for you too. I wasn't angry about the tournament incident, that was all Akila's fault, but," she turned towards Sakura, "You used magic in front of the general population without even hiding your identity. You practically shouted to the world 'Hey the Li family's controlling the planet with magic!'"

"You don't know all the circumstances. There were..." Syaoran tried to explain but was interrupted by Meiling.

"I don't know all the circumstances?!"

"I'll leave you two to talk." Sakura hurried away, looking determinedly at the floor.

"Sakura!" Syaoran called out, but she ignored him.

"What was that about? Meiling asked.

"How would I know... Sister..."

Meiling gasped, "The card showed you that!"

"At the tournament, she was messed up bad. Her personality was split into two. One is almost like the Sakura we know, loving and trusting, and full of spirit. The other... It was killed, but when Sakura merged, it became an alter ego that surfaces when she gets angry."

"You mean the Sakura who beat Akila?"

"No... That Sakura only had half of Sakura's power. This one has all of it. She's strong, and vengeful. If you see Sakura like that, you have to run."

"Why should I, Sakura wouldn't–"

"Look at me!" Syaoran tore his shirt open, revealing bruises across his torso. Dark ones in the shapes of fingers covered the scar from his injury. "She did this to me. Even though she loves me, she did this. She wanted to kill me. She was going to kill me, then we saw that scene with you and mother..." Syaoran sighed, "I'm afraid of her. I never wanted to upset her, but if I do now, I... might not survive it."

"And what's that have to do with me?"

"She was ready to kill you for punching me at the tournament. What do you think she'll do now that she's seen it. She watched ˗ made me watch ˗ the whole thing. I never wanted to remember that. It never should have happened. What do you think she'll do? You got what she knows should have rightfully belonged to her."

"You think she's really capable of that don't you?"

"I won't be able to stop her," Syaoran replied, "It's all my fault."

"You had better do something about it then."

* * *

Eriol sped away from the school. Tomoyo had followed obediently this time. She had wanted to protest, but she knew that, despite her malice, Eriol was the only chance she had of avoiding the Li agents this time.

"They will come after you this time. They will go after everyone who had their last class on that floor, and maybe even everyone in the school," Eriol explained, not even slowing down as he passed by Tomoyo's house.

"Wait, where are we going."

"I'm the only one that isn't really registered at the school. You'll have to stay with me for now. Even that might not be enough."

"You think they can find you there?"

"No, I think they can find you. Only Sakura really knows that I exist. No one knows who I really am. If they found out... I could easily take one or two of them, but the entire Li clan would be too much power. The only reason they're not looking for me now is because they don't know that I exist." The gates of his property opened automatically and he sped into the drive.

"How would they find me?"

"All they need is something that belongs to you. Location spells are pathetically easy for them if they have that much. With all the clothes and things you gave to Sakura last year... They could just sneak in and take something from your house or locker anyway."

"You must be able to do something. You're stronger than her aren't you?"

"It's not her I am worried about. If she found you, you'd probably be safe as long as you were with her. You are her cousin, and you were once her best friend."

"What should I do then? It's not like I can just stop going out."

"That's a good idea actually. I should have enough power to hide you from their tracking spells.:

"But, my mother will worry."

"Yes. We'll have to do something about that. The Li agents will certainly watch your house and offer all assistance in finding you." Eriol mulled over his thoughts for a while.

Tomoyo stepped out of the car and walked towards the gates.

"Where are you going?" Eriol asked, taking hold of her wrist and stopping her.

"I am going home. You said Sakura wouldn't let them do anything to me, right? So, there's no reason to stay with you."

Eriol jerked her onto the lawn, covering her mouth. They were now hidden behind the gate post. "They're here," he whispered. He allowed her to peek out for only a moment. It was long enough to see the street filling with black cars. "We have to get inside. They have already tagged you as a threat."

Tomoyo got ready to run but Eriol pulled her back, covering her mouth once again.

"Not yet. I could escape using magic, but then they'd begin investigating me, and they would watch this house as well." Eriol pulled her down to the ground, making her sit between his legs. In this position, there was no chance that they would be seen as long as the Li's stayed around Tomoyo's house.

* * *

Syaoran ran home, hoping to catch up to Sakura along the way. He noticed Li agents hiding near Tomoyo's house. He walked up to one of them and took the communicator from the man's ear.

"Tomoyo is no threat. She has known for over a year and has kept silent. I don't care what happens to her, but she is Sakura's cousin and Sakura will be angry if anything happens to her. If you anger Sakura, I can't guarantee your survival at the moment. Leave someone to watch her if you need to, but no one is to lay a finger on her unless she betrays us."

Syaoran was getting seriously irritated. He threw the communicator on the ground and walked off without waiting for a response. The leader of the group caught up with him a few moments later.

"Sir, regulations are clear. She knows too much."

"She doesn't know anything she didn't know before, except maybe that I did something stupid and Sakura can get angry."

"We'll have to wipe her memory," the agent insisted.

"I have a major headache and I am injured, but I am of sound mind. I gave you a direct order. You and your men will follow that order. If I find out that Daidouji Tomoyo has been harmed, erased, or interfered with in any way, you will be facing a council hearing for betraying the interests of the clan and insubordination."

"Sir, the Daidouji girl is missing. She is not at home, at school, or anywhere in between, despite having been present during her last class."

"And it takes a full squad to watch for a single, defenseless girl?" Syaoran asked sarcastically.

"But,"

"How many kidnapping attempts have been made against her?"

"I don't remember exactly..." The agent was getting flustered. "There have been a few, but most of those were years ago."

"What would her bodyguard think if he saw a group of unfamiliar men lurking around her house? Do you think that he would bring her home?"

"He would have surely called,"

"Who would he have called? The police? They would have done nothing because this is one of our operations."

"We have the Daidouji phones tapped. There has been no attempt made to contact - "

"Do you know where her bodyguard lives?"

"According to all the records, Tomoyo has not had any bodyguard assigned to her since the incident."

Syaoran stopped arguing with the agent for a moment, "Her bodyguard's name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. He was in the student exchange program last year and stayed with Sakura's family. Get the records and find out what you can." He rubbed his shoulder. With everything that had been going on, the mysterious bodyguard and his fight at the dance had slipped his mind.

"We already tried that. There are no records of him. He does not exist."

"He either has magic powerful enough to fool my mother, or powerful enough to break into our records and modify them. He is a threat. Leave Daidouji alone, but capture him."

Syaoran stalked off towards home. All the stress was only making the headache from his hangover worse. He hoped that it would go away fast this time, but knowing what he did about the first drugs that he had been tricked into ingesting, it would be a long and painful process to get clean. At these thoughts, Syaoran felt a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder and cursed.

* * *

"I am going to let go of your mouth now," Eriol said, "Don't make a sound. Sakura would never let them hurt you, but she isn't here. Li agents are notorious for getting jobs done, whether or not they have orders to stop. Anything can be contrived as justification for their actions and there are always extenuating circumstances." Eriol released Tomoyo's mouth.

"So you're saying that my only chance is to make up with Sakura before they find me." Tomoyo trembled. She wanted to do it, but knew she couldn't. Every time she thought of Sakura, her mind immediately brought up the scene of Laishi's death, the droplets of red blood slowly staining the snow as she died because Sakura had not protected her. No! It wasn't Sakura's fault. She was practically sitting on the perpetrator right now, but he hadn't been there and Sakura had.

"Tell me my dear Tomoyo, if it was Sakura's fault, then what did you do to save her?" His words were harsh and biting.

Tomoyo felt anger, pain, fear, and helplessness well up inside her until it was ready to burst out. Eriol's hand clamped over her mouth and nose, stifling a scream. Tomoyo struggled, but Eriol was deceptively strong.

"Shh..." Eriol held her fast so that she could not move a muscle. She then heard it, the slapping of hard leather soles smacking the concrete in clipped steps. Tomoyo froze, pushing her body back against Eriol's for fear that her legs might be seen jutting out.

"This is it, isn't it?"

"She said it was the western-style house at the end of the street."

Two Li agents were talking. Tomoyo's heart was beating so loud that she was sure that they would be noticed any second.

"We should have taken her out immediately."

"She's related to Sakura-sama. We need her alive if possible."

"She's been around and aware of our magic for far too long. We would need to do a complete wipe, so she might as well be dead."

Their casual tones freaked Tomoyo out. She wondered how any person could contemplate such things seriously and remain calm. She shivered in revulsion. Eriol squeezed her arm to reassure her, careful not to rustle any fabric. It was then that Nakuru showed up. She pounced on the agent, enjoying ruffling his feathers. With this momentary distraction, Eriol picked Tomoyo up and sprinted to the side of the house where they could not be seen from the gate.

"What are we going to do?" Tomoyo asked.

"We are going to hide for tonight, then go to school tomorrow. The safest place right now is with Sakura."

"But she-"

"Did nothing compared to what you have set in motion. Every dirty little disaster that you could imagine for her will befall her. She'll need her best friend back. Besides, even though you no longer spend time with her, you have dozens of outfits she has yet to wear."

"And I suppose you will be there the whole time."

"I am your bodyguard," Eriol replied grimly, his eyes shiftily glancing around.

"And I apparently will never have any control over my own life. I'll always be at the mercy of the whims of you people with magical powers."

Eriol shook his head, "You can do anything you choose to do, but it's the consequences you don't like. You are already involved in this world as deeply as Sakura or Syaoran, and maybe even a little more thanks to me."

* * *

Syaoran felt so alone. He had not seen Sakura when he had come home. He had not seen her at dinner time. Now she was not even laying beside him. He knew she was somewhere in the depths of the house, but she was suppressing her aura so he could not pinpoint her. He got up, restless. He opened the window and stood, half naked, in the breeze. He stared sullenly at the moon. It started. He didn't know why, but his bones began to twist and fur began to coat his body.

Two painful minutes later, he was in the form of a wolf. On the bright side, this form did not seem so affected by the withdrawal symptoms. He felt the urge to roam, explore his territory. It had been too long since he had. He leapt, pushing off the windowsill and flying towards the fence that surrounded the property.

Syaoran raced through the shadows, relearning the scents that pervaded the neighborhood. He froze when he sensed powerful magic. He ran towards the source, wondering if Sakura would show up as well.

"Lightning!" Someone had cast Li Clan magic at him. He dodged, his fur puffing from the residual static.

"Don't even think about it," Syaoran growled, glaring menacingly at the person hiding in the shadows of a wall.

The man whipped out a whole handful of ofudas. "Fire and Lightning!" The man brought down a sword to strike and activate the magic.

"Negate, the contract demands it. Come to my aid!" Syaoran countered. His opponent dropped his sword as his ofudas exploded.

"How did you..." The man clutched his hand which was numb from having the sword ripped from it. It would not have been so bad had he not been using more than one. "You are..."

"Rather pissed off that your commander is ignoring my orders. Withdraw. Signal your team to do the same."

"As you command Syaoran-sama." The agent stiffened and saluted.

* * *

Eriol and Tomoyo huddled in a dark closet. The Li force had begun their infiltration at midnight and were now scouring the house. It was only a matter of time before they were found. Eriol still refused to use any magic to save them, and now Tomoyo was beginning to see that magic was not necessarily bad in and of itself, after all, if it was only used, then they would be safe.

Eriol would not be swayed. The immediate future was fuzzy, but he could still see what was important. The key players would come out of this altercation alive and relatively unharmed. There was no reason to let the clan know about him yet. If word got back to the elders, all other operations would stop and he'd become the number one target.

Something shattered in the next room. He wondered if it was a mirror or a window. He hoped it was a window, he hadn't enchanted any of those. The door to the room they were in slammed open. Preemptively, he put his hand over Tomoyo's mouth for fear that she would scream and give away their location prematurely. She sat still, frozen in fear. It was like her nightmare, the dream's premonition for her when she had first fought with Sakura.

The closet door slammed open. The leader of the agents stood there with a smirk on his face. "If you come out now," he put his sword against Tomoyo's throat, "I will not have to do things the fun way."

"You are FIRE! 'd." A torrent of flames engulfed the man. The sickening smell of burning human flesh exploded throughout the room in a thick cloud of black, oily smoke. "The Li clan does not endure traitors," Li growled angrily.

Eriol smiled, releasing Tomoyo and relaxing. He had been wondering which of the future forks Syaoran would take. This was a good one. "Thank you for saving us." Eriol's apology was so sincere that it sounded insincere. He was seemingly not noticing Syaoran's transformed appearance.

"You, I told them they could have. She can't shield you forever," Syaoran replied.

"Hopefully, by the time it matters, Sakura will have become my friend."

"Or maybe, I will slit your throat as you sleep."

"We do get grumpy without Sakura by our side, don't we," Eriol mocked, "Why, it is so unfair that I am the one with a beautiful girl in my lap while you-"

Tomoyo elbowed him in the gut and pulled away from him, "Don't let me get between you two."

"I guess we're both going to be alone now." Syaoran grinned, it looked more like he was bearing his fangs hungrily.

"Well, you could always go to your Egyptian princess, she'd surely welcome you. I wonder if Sakura wonders where you went at this time of night, especially after what happened this afternoon." Eriol's remark bit Syaoran hard. There was no reason for Sakura to trust him. He'd proven himself unworthy of her too many times already. With a final growl, he raced back towards the mansion.

* * *

Syaoran was still very tired when he woke up. His late night excursion had kept him up well past his usual bedtime. Once he had returned, he had found that Sakura had not returned from whatever bowels of the mansion she had wandered off to. He had tossed and turned all night. He had even tried sleeping in Sakura's bed, but she was not there and hadn't used it since it had last been cleaned, depriving him of her lingering scent which he could smell so strongly in his wolf form.

He went to the morning lessons when he woke up as himself. There, they waited for a good deal of time before the elders finally sent Syaoran to go look for Sakura. At least now he had a good excuse to go and get her. He wasn't sure how she would have reacted to him tracking her down when she was obviously hiding from him. She might be happy, or she might get angry.

He descended into the sub-levels of the mansion, tracing her aura to her location. He was disappointed to find that it led to a room that was empty except for a glowing crystal orb that was mounted on the top of a staff which was embedded in the floor. It was a decoy, designed to hide someone or some thing's location in the building. There was only one orb, but it was connected to dozens of rooms that were shielded. There was no way to tell where she actually was without searching them all one by one.

Then, her aura vanished and reappeared in another section of the mansion. Syaoran knew the location. All the shielded rooms connected to the nexus. They could be accessed in other ways, but the subterranean sections had been expanded for centuries. They went for miles. Using the nexus would bring a person to and from just under the main house almost instantly.

He followed her to his room, finding the bathroom door locked and the shower running when he arrived. He waited for her until it was time to leave for school. He didn't even have time to ask any questions.

"Let's go." Sakura grabbed him. She hadn't even had time to dry her hair. They were going to be late for school if they dallied. She looked very tired. Except for the one phrase she had uttered to him, she didn't say anything else. She concentrated on running instead.

Outside the building, Wei was waiting to drive them to the school. When Sakura sat down in the car, she fell asleep before Syaoran had even entered.

* * *

Jade woke up early and met with Alex in his room to work on the research. It was amazing how often two things were mentioned: the pharaoh and the Li's. Apparently, at one time, both groups had vied for the Emperor's favor, though the Li's were the only ones whom were referred to as making demands rather than requests. None of it went into any detail though. One glyph, however, intrigued Jade. It was displayed artistically on the Emperor's most ornate pottery, most likely that of his personal use. It was the same glyph from the seal she had stolen. Alex did not recognize the glyph and she feigned ignorance. Even if she mentioned its significance, there really wasn't enough information to work from without official records.

"Anything interesting on your end?" Jade asked, finally finished scanning and translating as much of the Chinese as she could. It was difficult since it was all in Mandarin and she had learned mostly Cantonese as a child, and even that was a little rusty.

"It's a dead language. How do you think I'm doing?" He had pages and pages of notes, but very little of anything conclusive. "Some of these symbols are completely new to me. I haven't seen anything like them before."

Jade looked over his shoulder at the symbol he was looking at. "That is because that one is in Chinese... I think. It is kind of like a mixture."

"Any idea what it means?"

"I grew up in America. I am lucky I can translate the pure Chinese, let alone some bastardized version."

"Unless it was a symbol created to express something that did not exist in either language."

"As if the language did not have enough symbols already!" Jade sighed. English was so much easier, only twenty-six characters to remember. There have been about forty-seven thousand Chinese han.

"I know. Egyptian has like seven hundred hieroglyphics."

"You got the easy one," Jade replied, "Uncle has an entire shelf dedicated to the different han."

"So? There are entire libraries on Egyptian."

"I'm just talking about the lexicon. There are like seventy times as many characters in Chinese, and you're still using a book to reference your measly seven hundred."

"And you don't use references?"

"Maman." Jade said with a smirk, sticking out her tongue.

"Hey! I know what that means," he said, "You're lucky that I haven't gone through your books to look up insults."

"And that just proves my point." She patted him on the head like a dog. "Now, I'm going to get something to drink." She got up and stretched, careful not to step on anything. "While I'm gone, why don't you try to catch up to the seven thousand characters that I've memorized.

Jade wove her way through the huddled groups of people who were doing various forms of research in the lab. She could tell that working in Alex's room had been a good idea. Every space and piece of equipment was covered in papers, books and relics with people moving between them.

In the kitchen, she found Professor Kinomoto making up a pot of coffee.

"Did you just get in?" She asked.

"Yes. Things are moving along quite well. The earlier I start, the more I get done." His tone was not as light as his words. He had been rather disappointed that Sakura had not shown up at dinner or breakfast. Those were pretty much the only times he got to see her since he was at work and she was at school all day. Touya had assured him that she was around somewhere, but it was nice to spend time with his family when he could.


	20. Restitution

**Chapter 20: Restitution**

* * *

Syaoran didn't bother waking Sakura when Wei stopped in front of the school. She snuggled up against his chest and he lifted her out of the car. He carried her bridal-style to the classroom and sat at his desk with Sakura on his lap, glaring at anyone who looked twice. Most kept their distance, but he was not surprised when Tomoyo sat down next to him in Sakura's seat.

"What do you want?" Syaoran asked.

"Thank you for last night," Tomoyo said, "I would have been killed if you weren't there."

"I would have let them, if it wouldn't have made Sakura sad. You've used up all the chances you had with me when you betrayed her."

"I didn't mean all those things I said to her."

"Then you shouldn't have said them. Once is a mistake. Doing it for months is... torture for someone like Sakura. Even after all you've done, helping that smirking bastard of a bodyguard to attack us, she would probably still forgive you if you asked." Syaoran wiped Sakura's lip with his thumb where she had begun drooling on his shirt.

"You sound like you're trying to get me back as best friends with Sakura," Tomoyo sighed.

"It would make her happy," Syaoran replied, 'and might save your life,' he added silently.

"I can't help it. Every time I see her face, I also see Laishi dying. I don't really hate her. I know she's suffered more than she deserves because of me."

Syaoran ran his fingers through Sakura's still-wet hair, enjoying the scents that wafted off of her. Then she shifted and before he knew it, she was laying with her head on Tomoyo's lap.

"Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura murmured, grabbing a hold on the pleats of Tomoyo's skirt. Tomoyo was sitting stiffly, holding the chair and biting her lip, barely remaining calm.

"Getting along already, I see," Eriol smirked as Tomoyo tried to figure out what to do about Sakura.

"Why is she so tired?" Tomoyo asked.

"Why, because she got no sleep last night," Eriol answered, "You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you, Syaoran? You rushed off so quickly just to see her, I can't imagine what else it could be."

"I didn't do anything to her!" Syaoran replied angrily, his nerves fraying almost to the breaking point from trying to be nice to the two.

"Of course not, there are plenty of other reasons that she would stay up all night," Eriol quipped, "Now come, Tomoyo, we must take our seats before our teacher arrives."

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura mumbled in her sleep, curling a hand into the pleats of Tomoyo's skirt and nuzzling her thigh.

This was too much for Tomoyo. She sat frozen in shock for a moment, then leapt to her feet, biting her lip to hold back a squeal of surprise.

Sakura was knocked up against her desk, then began to stumble towards the ground. Her hand, already wrapped in the folds of Tomoyo's skirt, tightened reflexively in a sleepy attempt to arrest her fall, her other hand trapped between her body and the chair Tomoyo had been occupying. With a loud snap and a ripping sound, the zipper of the skirt popped open as the two girls went in opposite directions. The skirt tumbled down, hooking around Tomoyo's knees as Syaoran caught Sakura's arm and prevented the rest of her fall.

To Daidouji Tomoyo, the damage was already done. The sound of tearing had brought the attention of every person in the class. Her thighs were revealed to everyone up to the lace-trimmed violet panties that she was wearing. Someone whistled, then there were cat calls and laughter. Large glistening tears formed in her eyes.

"Tomoyo-chan, I'm sorry, I didn't-" Sakura tried to apologize, but was cut off as Tomoyo slammed her hands over her ears, gripping her hair as if she wanted to tear the shiny black locks out of her scalp, and then she screamed. It was a horrible, soul rending scream of anguish. Then, she was gone, and Eriol as well. They had just disappeared without a trace, the sound cut off suddenly.

* * *

Fujitaka looked over the reports he had been given. Each one confused him to no end. Every student had come to wildly different conclusions based on the artifacts they had examined. He had expected the tales of magic, since they were common in many cultural histories, but the concentration of documents that went into detail about men named Li were astounding. Some students had decided that the Li clan had been highly ranked and regarded vassals of the emperor. Others believed that they had been a completely separate power, though none agreed about whether they were working for or against the emperor. Fujitaka thought back on his breakfast with Sakura and the story he had been told about the tapestry. It had all been almost too incredible to believe. The Li clan had once been at war with the emperor. The emperor had the advantage of numbers, but the Li's sorcery has made up for that, leading the two to reach a tentative peace with the dragon as their pact.

He picked up the next report in the pile. It was from Jade. Attached to the front was a short note that chilled Fujitaka to the bone.

_ There are some things which are not to be known. Remember this before publishing any papers. The Li clan does not look kindly upon those who reveal their secrets. Think about your daughter's best interests._

The letter was unsigned, but it did not look like Jade's handwriting. In fact, it did not look like any handwriting he had seen outside of archaeological artifacts. Then, he blinked and the text he had been examining was gone. Instead he saw a title page reading, "Political and military cooperation between Egyptian Pharaohs and Chinese Emperors in stabilizing revolutionary Han China". Below was a picture of the emperor's seal on a document. As he looked at it, he resolved to speak to his daughter that day no matter what. He turned the page to hide the picture that was now irreversibly seared into his brain. The emperor's seal was the Li Clan dragon.

* * *

Tomoyo did not show up for the first class of the day, nor for the second. When she did return, she had what Sakura could only describe as a dead look on her face. She was wearing a fully functional skirt exactly like the one that had been destroyed before she disappeared, and Sakura guessed it had been repaired by magical means rather than Tomoyo returning home to replace the ruined one. Eriol walked beside her, holding her hand, but it was like she didn't even notice he was there. She didn't seem to notice anyone was there. A few students laughed and made lewd comments, but she didn't even so much as look at them. When the teacher asked where she had been, it was Eriol who answered that she was having personal problems and did not want to talk about it. Sakura gripped her stomach, feeling nauseous with guilt.

It was almost lunch time and Sakura 's nausea was giving way to hunger, leaving Sakura in fear that her stomach would growl so loudly as to alert the other students. She wished she had gotten up earlier so she had time to eat properly. This, in turn, was making her sluggish and distracted, unable to pay attention to what they were being taught. Her attention was quickly acquired though when a strange alarm blared from the intercom. She was about to stand and head out, thinking it was a fire drill when the teacher, visibly shaking, stood up to lock the door.

"Please remain calm," the teacher said, obviously failing to follow his own advice, "That was the lock down alert. One of them, at least. Everyone move to the back corner where you can not be seen from the door and sit down quietly."

Syaoran had his phone out and hit a speed dial control.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked, grabbing Li's hand reflexively.

"That was not the normal lock down alarm. This alarm means that there are unknown and armed persons on the grounds. Probably an attempted kidnapping," a loud explosion made him cringe, "or maybe retaliation."

"You called for a strike team to get them?"

"No, that call was for a clean-up team. A strike team would take too long to get here." Syaoran explained.

"What are you two doing? Sit down against the wall, it's for your own safety!" the teacher ordered, glancing at the door nervously.

Syaoran reached into his shirt and many people gasped as he seemingly drew a sword out of nowhere.

"Where did you get that! The school has a zero tolerance policy on weapons!" The teacher was hyperventilating and looked to be about to collapse.

"Don't bother hiding, the cleanup team will do memory alterations later."

Sakura understood and withdrew the pendant from around her neck. "Key that hides the power of my star, reveal your true form before me. Your mistress Sakura commands it. Release!"

A myriad of exclamations were heard.

"I suppose we should do something as well, tight Tomoyo?" Eriol said as he drew out his own pendant. Tomoyo did not respond. "Key that hides the power of darkness, reveal your true form before me. Your master Eriol commands it. Release!"

"It can't be! That's Clow Reed's magic!", Sakura gasped in amazement.

"Why yes, yes it is. How astute of you Sakura," Eriol said with an enigmatic smile. He slammed the but of his staff down on the ground, calling out, "Illusion!"

It was an amazing sight to behold. Hovering in the middle of the classroom was a three-dimensional wire-frame model of the school. A cluster of green dots showed up in their classroom. "This is us," Eriol said, "and these are the attacking men, armed with some sort of assault rifle." The view swung around and it it was clear from the way that the visible red dots stopped at a door, then a second later passed through it, moved around the classroom, then left, that the men were looking for something or someone.

"And what's this?" Syaoran pointed at a blinking yellow dot that was in the gym storage room.

"That would be Sakura's prize. I believe he was spooked by the alarm, which is why he exploded like that. Be careful not to spook him."

"Another spirit?" Sakura asked.

"I guess you'll find out when you get past the men who are between you and it." Eriol said.

"Remember to give them their voices back," Syaoran said.

Sakura looked around surprised. She hadn't even noticed, the the whole class was trying to talk and nothing was coming out of their mouths.

"And why should I do that? They'll just ask a bunch of annoying questions anyway." Eriol shrugged as if it was not his concern.

Sakura sighed and brought out the Voice card. "Voice card, discard your former power and draw your power from my star under the new contract. Voice card, restore the voice to the people in this class!" Sakura felt the huge drain on her energy as the voice transformed and did her will. Her lack of energy really impacted her now. She felt that if she even blinked, she would drop into a deep slumber. Syaoran put an arm around her as she wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

The sounds came back all at once: cries of surprise, questions, cheers, and curses. "What do you think you're doing. You must sit quietly!" The teacher seemed to have regained some of his nerve, despite the show of paranormal power.

"Let's go," Syaoran said.

"Sorry about this," Sakura said, bowing apologetically to the teacher before following Syaoran out the door. Eriol followed, pulling a compliant but barely responsive Tomoyo along.

It did not take long for them to find the men who had invaded the school. They were just coming out of a classroom when they spotted the four teens.

"It's her!" the one at the front pointed towards them. He was holding a photograph in his hand. Three more men exited the classroom and leveled guns at them.

"Kill the others. Take the girl," the shortest one said. While he had worn the same plain black clothing and balaclava as the others, his rotund body was a stark contrast to the military trim of the others.

"Shield card, discard your former power and draw your power from my star under the new contract. Shield!" Sakura barely managed to get the shield up before sparks of ricochets bounced off the pink glow. It was immediately visible that the shield would not hold. It flickered violently with each bullet that struck it and was becoming webbed with cracks.

"King of thunder, come forth!" Syaoran shattered the shield from the inside, blasting all the men with a powerful cone of electricity. Their guns melted and their bodies smoked and were blasted away with the force of the spell, hitting a wall before falling limp and unmoving to the ground.

Then, Sakura was falling. Syaoran dropped his weapons and leapt towards her, arresting her fall. A click sounded, warning Syaoran of the danger too late. Sakura pushed herself off of him, stumbling in front of Tomoyo who was now the target of a large silvery hand-gun.

"Shield!" The pink bubble enshrouded the two girls, flickered, and then faded as an echoing boom resounded in the hallway.

Blood splattered across Syaoran's face as Sakura's body was launched away from him by the force of the bullet. He saw red and rage boiled up inside him. A deep growl rumbled from his chest as he leapt towards the man and sunk his fangs into the man's neck, tearing a great hunk of flesh from the man's throat and landing with his four paws on the man's chest. He didn't even remember transforming. He didn't even know how he had transformed. He didn't really care since he could always find that out later. For now, this man had to pay for killing...

He glanced back as he heard the sound of a cell phone. Tomoyo had Sakura resting against her and her hand was holding back the blood as she frantically tried to call for help. That meant that Sakura wasn't dead, though the man under him certainly was. Eriol had disappeared somewhere in the confusion. Syaoran leapt off the dead man and saw a charred picture laying on the floor. It was a picture of Tomoyo. Sakura had been shot protecting Tomoyo from kidnappers. He waited until Tomoyo had hung up her phone, then swatted the photo across the floor with his paw, then growled. Tomoyo went white with fear. Syaoran did not even have to voice the threat, but his involuntary growl was enough to set Tomoyo trembling.

* * *

Syaoran paced back and forth in front of the hospital room. His hands trembled even though they were shoved deep into his pockets. It hadn't been his intention, but he had not been able to control himself. He had been so worried while Sakura had been in surgery that he had snuck into a supply cupboard and swallowed a handful of vicodin tablets. They were now wearing off and his shoulder was throbbing worse than ever.

Sakura had lost a lot of blood, but she had been lucky. The bullet had only hit one major organ, and that had been her liver, which the doctor's assured him would grow back in a few months after they had removed the damaged portion and the bullet.

Syaoran felt like hitting something. The craving for the drugs was worse than ever. If only Sakura would wake up. The doctors had no idea what was causing her current coma. Syaoran knew. He could barely sense her where she was less that fifteen feet away. Her magic powers had been reduced to mere vapors from what had once been like an entire tanker of fuel. He never should have allowed her to come in the condition she had been in. Transforming two cards after staying up all night had almost drained her beyond hope of recovery.

Syaoran stopped and glanced into the room. He hoped that he would see the viridescent orbs opened to catch his gaze, but her eyes were still closed. Tomoyo was beside her bed, mumbling apologies for every injustice she burdened the overly caring girl with. As much as he hated Tomoyo for the months of suffering she caused Sakura, he couldn't evict the Daidouji girl because he knew how happy it would make Sakura to see her friend and cousin talking to her again.

Her father was sitting nearby. A table had been half cleared of magazines and now held a stack of reports instead. Professor Kinomoto seemed very distracted, the pile of reports had not moved at all in the hours he had sat there after he had rushed over. Every so often, he would glance up at Syaoran with an accusing look. Syaoran didn't blame him. He knew it was his fault for not planing correctly. He should have seen how exhausted Sakura was. He should never have let Tomoyo follow them.

Syaoran made an abrupt turn in his pacing and strode into the hospital room. He sat down opposite Tomoyo and took Sakura's hand. It seemed unnaturally cold to him. He pulled up her blanket to her chin, to help keep her warm. He would have climbed in with her, but having just come out of surgery, she was in a delicate condition. He noticed the remote for the television next to him and turned the television on, switching to a news channel. The clean up crew had probably done their job by now, which meant the story would be showing up soon.

"Today, a vicious attack occurred at the Hong Kong Educational Center." These words grabbed Syaoran's attention after several minutes of local fluff. Tomoyo also turned to watch as the neatly quaffed reporter talked in front of an image of the school. "This school is one of the premiere private educational facilities in China, consistently getting high rankings in both sports and standardized test scores. Its fame for educating top students has lead it to be a top choice of rich and influential families such as the Li's who hold a majority share in the school." The camera shooting the school faded to an image of the principal's office. "The principal of the school had this to say."

"Of course, our students are the children of rich families and are therefore constantly under threat of kidnapping. We have a small contingent of security personnel on staff in case of emergency, and we have procedures that allow bodyguards such as Miss Daidouji's to remain on campus in case of such an attack."

"Tomoyo Daidouji is the heiress of the Daidouji Toy Company, a top designer of high-tech toys and accessories for children and teens. Miss Daidouji has been the target of attacks on multiple occasions, and it is believed that this attack was another botched kidnapping attempt. It is, however, impossible to tell because all of the attackers were killed. Four were killed by Miss Daidouji's bodyguards using high-energy tasers which delivered an electric shock that not only stopped their hearts, but caused severe burns throughout their bodies. A fifth man was viciously stabbed to death by Li Syaoran with a pocket knife after the man, unnoticed by the bodyguards, shot his fiancée Kinomoto Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura is currently in a coma in an undisclosed hospital, but is expected to make a full recovery within the year."


	21. Restoration

**AN:** A short chapter today, but a lot happens.

* * *

**Chapter 21: Restoration**

* * *

Sakura woke in a great deal of pain. She had immediately tried to sit up and found her stomach burning indescribably before she had even opened her eyes. Both hands clenched and she felt a pair of hands squeeze back as she cried out in pain. She had been injured capturing Clow Card, and in training, but had never felt anything like this. There was a buzz, and Syaoran's voice spoke from her left, but she couldn't pay attention to his words. Another voice, female, sad. It was familiar but she didn't recognize it immediately. The sniffles and hiccups did not help in the recognition either. Then, her father's worried voice as her body spasmed from the pain, causing more pain to flood her system and drown out all other sensations.

A sudden coolness flooded into her arm, and her body relaxed against her will and her mind became fuzzier. She could still feel the pain, but it was like it was happening to someone else, so it didn't hurt her as much. She smiled as her body began to feel happier. She wanted to share this happiness. She opened her eyes and saw she shaggy brown hair of her love. She reached out and patted his head, giggling.

"Puppy!" She explained gleefully. His face flushed crimson. It was so cute. She grabbed his ears and pulled his face down into a sloppy, wet kiss which he happily reciprocated. It was fun to share happiness.

She turned her head and saw Tomoyo whose cheeks were stained with tears. If anyone needed happiness, it was her. Before Tomoyo could react, Sakura reached out and dragged her into a kiss as well. It wasn't quite as fun, and she struggled a bit, but she got happy too after a second... and very, very red.

"Tou-san!" Sakura pouted, holding out her arms like a little child. He looked really worried. She sat up and stretched her arms out towards her father even more. He bent over to give her the hug she was asking for. She practically leapt out of bed to wrap her arms around him, knocking his glasses askew. She couldn't reach his lips, but thought that maybe you could give people happiness through their noses. She planted a big sloppy kiss on his nose.

"Sakura, your stitches!" Syaoran called out in alarm.

A man in hospital scrubs pressed a button. More happiness surged through her, then she toppled back into bed, wondering why her stomach hurt before she fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

* * *

"Umm... What was that exactly?" Syaoran asked, glancing down at Sakura's dazed and happy expression as she began to drool.

"I'd like to know that as well," Fujitaka concurred as he took a tissue and gently cleaned the drool off of his daughter's face.

"A slight side-effect of the drug. Her fiancé has refused to allow the use of opiates to control the pain, and other drugs would likely cause kidney damage in the doses they would have to be taken in," the doctor explained. "Because of this, we've had to rely on lower strength pain relievers. She is currently taking an analgesic which is a combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. But, at the current time, that is not enough to stem the pain of such a grievous wound. Without the use of opiates, we went with a slightly different tactic. We are using ketamine to induce a disassociative state. This allows her to ignore a great deal of her pain."

"Is this ketamine likely to cause any danger to her?" Syaoran asked.

"It has several side effects, which include confusion, hallucinations and euphoria. She may also experience nausea and other neurological symptoms. On her current dose, we will need to remove the ketamine within the week in order to prevent permanent effects." The doctor withdrew a needle from his pocket and drew out some of the ketamine solution from the bag hanging on a rack next to the bed that had a hose leading to a needle which was sticking into Sakura's forearm. "Try some, it looks like you could use it," the doctor announced, after jamming the needle into Syaoran's arm, depressing the plunger, "and stop raiding our supply cupboards."

Syaoran stared at the doctor in surprise. He had thought that no one had seen him. He was about to shout at the doctor, but decided that he really wasn't mad. In fact, he felt positively amazing. The symptoms from his withdrawal had almost completely disappeared. Those that were left seemed pretty irrelevant, especially when he compared it to the light that seemed to dance across Sakura's body like a golden corona. It shimmered up and down her body like flames and made her already incomparable beauty seem to radiate like a fire. He wanted to bask in that beautiful warmth. It seemed like there was a way, like a hole had opened up in his chest and he could just squeeze out and reach for her.

* * *

Sakura stood unclothed in a grassy meadow. Butterflies fluttered around her ankles, landing every so often on wild flowers to devour the delicious center within. Nearby, there was a peaceful knoll with a widely branching sakura tree that was covered in bright pink blossoms that danced gently under the influence of a gentle spring breeze.

At her feet lay a steep embankment that dipped into a peaceful stream that bubbled merrily around rocks that had been worn into smooth round stones. Then, further out, the rocks changed, becoming more pointed and jagged. The water crashed around them, dashing against them with dangerous force, slamming mercilessly against a wall of solid granite protuberances that agitated the already hostile water before fusing into becoming the opposite embankment.

On the other side, the sky was dark. Towering black clouds swirled as lightning lanced down upon the bare desert ground. Dust blew around, scraping away at the rocks and the single solitary tree which was little more than withered branches that shuddered under the onslaught.

In this horrific landscape stood Sakura, who looked jealously at the Sakura standing opposite her. Neither could cross, and the roar of the winds and waters prevented any words from crossing from one side to the other.

There was a sudden howl and both Sakura's looked up to see a fuzzy brown object dropping from the sky, tumbling towards the grassy knoll. Sakura ran, diving into the soft grass to catch the trembling puppy in her arms. It landed softly in her fingers. Its large, fuzzy paws, struggling comically for a foothold. It leapt forward, nuzzling her face with its shaggy brown head. Its shining amber eyes gazed lovingly at her as he began to lick all over Sakura's face. She giggled, and struggled, but was defenseless against the cuteness when its whole backside began to wag along with its tail. She picked the little wolf pup up and hugged it to her chest, rubbing her nose against his wet, black snout.

"Syaoran..." She whispered the pup's name.

* * *

"That's not what is supposed to happen!" the doctor cursed as he tried to revive Syaoran. The boy had just collapsed. He rushed over and felt Syaoran's pulse. It was slowing. His breathing was also getting shallower. "He shouldn't have had such a strong reaction with such a small dose!" He slammed the emergency button on Sakura's heart monitor. A siren wailed out a call for help and Doctors and nurses rushed in. "I need some adrenaline before his heart and lungs stop!"

* * *

Syaoran now took the time to look around. It took only a moment to come to his senses when he saw the dark landscape behind Sakura and her twin staring back jealously. Of course, falling from the sky into the arms of a naked Sakura in a paradisaical meadow was too good to be true. He tried to think of what was happening, but his senses seemed fuzzy, and being snuggled into Sakura's chest didn't help him concentrate. In fact, being in wolf form made it even more difficult because his wolf form was lead more by instinct than thought. He could still remember the harsh training he had received when learning how to control himself and channel magic in this form.

"I call upon the power of the moon, release me from cursed form that binds my soul and return my true self." His body expanded, the hair shrinking into his body. His bones creaked painfully as his form began to shift, but then it stopped. Sakura had wrapped her arms around him tightly and suffused him in the glow of her power. It shielded him from the source of his own magic somehow and it was just one more proof that this plain would not be found anywhere upon the earth.

Syaoran remembered the doctor stabbing him with the needle. He remembered feeling disconnected from his body and reaching for Sakura. It was the only possible explanation he could think of – he was inside of Sakura. This wasn't good. His mind was clearing and one fact sprung to the forefront of his mind. A body cannot live without a spirit. With training, a body could go without a spirit for as long a a few hours before it died, but that took many years of training to achieve.

"Sakura!" he yipped in an embarrassingly high-pitched voice. Why was he even a puppy? He should still have been a full-grown wolf.

"Puppy!" she replied with a laugh.

Syaoran knew this wasn't a good sign. Her brain was addled by the drugs, and in her mind, she controlled the world with her subconscious thoughts and desires. Syaoran steeled himself for what he had to do. If he had the choice of how he was going to die, this was certainly near the top of the list, but he was not going to abandon Sakura, even if he had to hurt her. With a halfhearted growl, he sank his fangs into her shoulder.

The world lurched. He felt like he was falling as everything swirled around. Then, he felt the impact of a knee into his very human crotch and stumbled backwards, clutching himself in pain. He managed to stop as his foot landed only halfway on the cliff above the jagged rocks and rapids.

"Sakura, wait," he said, keeping his hands positioned to protect his pride, "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You're just a dirty, rabid, mongrel, aren't you! I was treating you nicely, letting you cozy up to me like that, and in return, you bite me!" Lightning struck nearby, making Syaoran's hair stand on end.

"I had to! I'm not connected to my body, I'm going to die."

"Then die, you whimpering dog, and take your punishment like a man." Sakura seemed to hold no sympathy for him.

"I promise, I will submit to any punishment you think appropriate," Syaoran winced at the evil gleam that began to dance in her eyes as he said it, "After we get back into the real world."

Sakura sighed in resignation. "Fine, what do we have to do?"

Syaoran glanced around. There was no obvious exit to this place. The scar along the sky where cloud met azure seemed too unnatural and he realized that he might never find it in a broken mind. 'Think!' he screamed silently inside his head. He could feel himself beginning to get cold on the inside. He didn't like the feeling, it felt like he was losing himself, like death was whittling away at him from the inside. This would be so much easier if the world made sense. He needed to restore Sakura's mind.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sakura demanded impatiently.

"Use the change card!" Syaoran replied frantically, "Switch me with her!" He pointed across towards the other Sakura. The cold feeling had spread to almost half of his body. He knew there was litle time left.

"In my mind, see any cards around?" Sakura snorted derisively.

"Just do it, please!" His fingertips were beginning to take on a greyish hue.

"Fine, but don't blame me if it doesn't work."

"Key of the star, reveal your true power to me. Your mistress commands you under the contract, release!" It seemed like an earthquake and gale struck at the same time. The sky darkened and golden radiance shone down upon both Sakuras. The light illuminating the dark Sakura held much more light than the flickering luminance across the water. Sakura looked rather pleased with herself as she began to chant the next incantation. "Change card, discard your former might and draw upon my power under the new contract!"

Syaoran felt like a horse had kicked him in the gut as he went flying. He passed through the other Sakura over the middle of the river before tumbling through the grass on the other side. The landscape was flickering. Staring back at where he had come from, he saw Sakura staring across at him in concern, only one Sakura. He tried to stand, but his legs and arms were completely numb. Then, he was falling as the solid ground beneath him disappeared. He fell and fell and fell for what seemed like forever, and then he burst out staring down at Sakura from above.

Syaoran looked around for his body. It, and the doctor were nowhere to be seen. The only one with Sakura now was Tomoyo. He knew that they must have moved him after his spirit left his body. He hovered there, hopelessly unable to move. The cold continued to consume his body. He thought that it was going to be the last time he saw her. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he said as the cold worked its way up his throat.

As he was about to resign himself to death, a strange thing happened. A sheep that seemed to be made only of lines the color of the night sky floated through the wall. It ignores him completely, floating happily along its path. When their bodies collided, the sheep did not even flinch, but Syaoran felt a tug pull him through the hospital and slam him forcefully back into his body.

Syaoran opened his eyes a crack. A mask with a bulb was pressed over his face, squeezing air into his lungs.

"Clear!" A voice called as the mask pulled away. He saw the metal pads of a defibrillator descending towards his chest. He reacted instantly, his hands lancing out to catch the doctor by the wrists.

"I don't think that will be necessary," he gasped as he began to draw breath. One of the nurses screamed and fainted. He wondered how many times they had shocked him before he had woken up. Would his spirit have survived as long if they had not been doing everything in their power to keep him alive? He glanced around, allowing the magic to seep into his vision. There was one bright pink aura that stretched to almost unimaginable size. It was almost twice as big as it had been since Sakura had been split. He grinned and fell back into his bed. He couldn't have been happier with the way things had turned out. Sakura was fine, and stronger than ever.


	22. Revelations

**A/N:** Well things are getting messy. So secrets are revealed for the greater good.

* * *

**Chapter 22: Revelations**

* * *

It was half a day before the doctors would believe Syaoran when he said that he was alright. They had actually strapped him into bed, with his mother's help, to keep him from trying to cross the ward and see Sakura. What was worse was that they refused to give him any news about Sakura for fear that his sudden collapse may have been aggravated by stress. Meiling had come along after that and told him mundane stories, forever leading up to exciting things before skipping right over them to the next mundane event. He began to wonder which god had cursed him that he should be subjected to this torture.

Finally, he was freed with a clean bill of health and crossed immediately to Sakura's room where he found Meiling and Tomoyo chatting amicably.

"I thought Syaoran was about to blow his top when I told him about how my toaster refused to toast to the precise shade of brown I wanted. I think I talked about that for at least five minutes, and his face kept getting redder and redder."

"Well good for you. I should have thought of that myself. I am not sure I approve of Syaoran dating Sakura anymore," Tomoyo replied, "He is nice to her, but he's so abusive to everyone else. He's threatened to kill me at least three times – not to mention how he destroyed my collection of Sakura videos. I was hoping to continue my collection, but there really doesn't seem to be a point now, except that if I don't, all the costumes I made this year would go to waste." She sighed resignedly. "I hope she doesn't hold the way I've been acting recently against me. I was being a total-"

"Your collection isn't destroyed," Syaoran cut in, "I made a copy and put it in the library. I'll admit to the death threats, though I only threatened you to keep Sakura safe."

"Maybe you should have bribed me instead," Tomoyo had completely tensed up, "That was half the reason I could never get back my relationship with Sakura!"

"You're already rich," Syaoran said, "You don't offer a drowning man a glass of water. The only thing I could have offered you was knowledge, which you'd already proven yourself untrustworthy of."

"I never told your secrets to anyone!" Tomoyo shouted indignantly.

"But you abandoned Sakura when she needed you most, and didn't come back until she took a bullet for you. I know Sakura will forgive you, but I won't and I will remember that it is your fault that my Sakura almost died!"

"You think I don't know that?" Tomoyo cried, cringing away from Syaoran, "Those men were after me. That bullet was aimed at me. My bodyguard forced her to exhaust herself before we even confronted the enemy, so yes, It is my fault, it's all my fault, and I'm sorry, okay?"

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you," Sakura said sleepily, her eyes peeking out from behind her heavy lids, blinking slowly.

"You're awake!" Meiling exclaimed, "The doctor said you'd be out until morning."

"I feel like I should still be asleep, but I have so much energy that I can't."

"Does it still hurt?" Tomoyo asked.

"I feel a lot better," Sakura said, placing a reassuring hand on Tomoyo's. Tomoyo blushed and Syaoran scowled jealously.

"You didn't see your wound though. After the last time you woke up, they had to replace your bandages because you reopened the wound. They even had to redo the stitches because they got torn out."

"I told you that I feel fine. With the drugs they have me on, it barely even hurts," Sakura assured Tomoyo.

"With your magical power what it is, your body should heal quickly," Syaoran replied, "I almost died when I got sucked into your head but, if I am right, you're a whole person again."

"You can look forward to fulfilling your promise when we get home," Sakura replied with a smile that made Syaoran feel like a lead brick had come to rest in his stomach.

"You remember that?" Syaoran asked.

"Which part, when you were sticking you nose between my breasts, or the part right after where you bit me?" Sakura's glare rivaled whatever any Li could have done, and Syaoran began to think that he might just be rubbing off a little bit too much on her.

"So, where's your dad?" Syaoran asked, he was receiving glares from both Tomoyo and Meiling as well.

"He said that he had gotten permission to return to the Forbidden City," Tomoyo said.

"Which is why I am here to look after my sister." Syaoran felt a hand grasp his shoulder with strong fingers digging deeply into the muscle.

"Nii-san!" Sakura smiled happily.

"What's this I hear about you and my sister?" Touya asked. He was still wearing a uniform from one of his part time jobs.

"He promised to submit to any punishment I could think of," Sakura said, "could you please take care of it?"

"No, I promised to take any punishment from you, not from your brother!" Syaoran wrenched himself away and took a defensive stance.

"And, my punishment is that you have to spend the rest of the day with my brother, and tell him everything. Tou-san already knows most of the truth. Touya deserves to know too."

Syaoran shuddered. It seemed that combining the two halves when the dark side was stronger had made the dark side of her combined mind stronger. At least that is what is seemed like to Syaoran.

"Well, gaki, it looks like we had better find somewhere to... talk... privately."

Syaoran swallowed hard and stepped out of the room, resigned to his fate.

* * *

Eriol walked into the hospital humming merrily as he tossed a fist sized piece of amber into the air and catching it repeatedly. Inside the amber was something that turned heads as people gawked at him and his little treasure. It was a little red piglet, frozen with a look of absolute terror on its face.

"I am back!" Eriol announced as he slammed open the door to Sakura's room, "Did you miss me?"

"Why, yes, yes I did," Tomoyo said with an icy smile, "Where were you when people were shooting at me? Aren't you supposed to be my bodyguard?"

"My dear Tomoyo, you wound me. How could you even think that I would abandon you in yout time of need? Did I not leave you under the protection of two of the most powerful magicians in the city?"

"But, you knew there were people after me in the school!"

"Umm... I hate to interrupt your flirting, but what's with the pig?" Sakura asked.

"We're not flirting!" Tomoyo fumed.

"Well, while you were off dealing with more mundane things, I was dealing with the real threat, risking my heart and my life because nothing it more important to me, my dear, than your safety."

Eriol didn't even see what hit him. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground and a bright red hand print throbbed painfully on his cheek, but the pain did nothing to make his Cheshire grin fade from his face.

"Tomoyo, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"No! I am not okay!" Tomoyo glared at Eriol who flipped himself back to his feet in a single fluid motion. "This idiot has been nothing but trouble since he arrived. He's the one behind all the strange stuff that was happening, he's taken every bad thing I can think of and has cast a spell that makes them all happen to you. He tricked my mother into making him my bodyguard. He sneaks into my room at night, just to annoy me. He's an insufferable know-it-all wizard who is only around when I don't want him to be."

"After all I did to stop you from getting blown to smithereens, that's how you think of me?" Eriol asked, looking very hurt.

"Since when was I in danger of being blown up?"

"At about the same time Sakura was jumping in front of a bullet for you." He dropped the amber-coated pig on Sakura's lap. "Say hello to the spirit of the pig talisman. It is a lot more dangerous than the tiger or the bull which you already faced."

"So, this was the consolation prize you were talking about?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. How astute of you, Kinomoto-san," Eriol said with a mysterious smirk.

"And, how exactly is a super-pig a consolation prize when compared to normal, everyday, kidnappers?" Tomoyo asked sweetly, with a hint of menace in her voice.

"Yes, do tell us. I would love to hear how you explain this," Sakura added, leveling a Li-like glare at Eriol.

"It is rather obvious, if you think about it. You were playing the game for the dearest prize of all, Sakura, the lovely Daidouji Tomoyo."

Tomoyo raised a fist angrily and opened her mouth to yell at him, then closed it again. "I..." She was at a complete loss for what to say.

"After my little test of Sakura's powers, I knew that her magic was nowhere near strong enough to bind a powerful spirit. Just the one small act of magic completely drained her. This spirit happened to have headed into the boiler room after it used its heat vision to destroy the janitorial supply closet. It got spooked when the cleaning chemicals exploded. If I had been with you, the last kidnapper would have run away. We would have chased after him. The gas pipe to the water heater was loosened by the explosion in the janitor's closet. The kidnapper would have thrown himself into the boiler room and tripped over the pig. The pig would have been startled and would have used its heat vision, igniting the cloud of gas and destroying half the school."

"So, you really were saving us?" Sakura asked.

"Daidouji-sama has kept me quite busy. She once had a squad of bodyguards, but now there is only me. In addition to protecting her from over-zealous Li agents intent on purging a threat, there have been no less than eleven kidnapping attempts since I became her bodyguard. Until now, I was able to deal with them without her noticing."

"So, every time you were caught sneaking into my room, you were actually protecting me?"

"Well, every time after the first week. You needed to get to know me so that you would trust me. Tomoyo, there are some very bad people after you, and I doubt that it has anything to do with your mother's company."

"Someone is after the Li's, aren't they?" Sakura stated flatly, "They know she is my cousin and want to use her to get to me."

"No. I think they are after me," Eriol said, "I made some very dangerous people very angry the night of Miss. Daidouji's concert. I think that they want to get to her to get to me... But, your theory holds merit as well. I can see the assassins coming, but whoever is hiring them has veiled themselves. This magic didn't exist five hundred years ago."

"That's impossible! Your're our age!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

"Am I, Tomoyo? With everything you've seen, do you think something as trivial as eternal youth is beyond my power?"

Sakura gripped her pendant and looked suspiciously at Eriol. "Who are you?"

"I am Hiiragizawa Eriol. Transfer student from England."

"Liar! Why are you so afraid of the Li's finding out your true identity?" Tomoyo said, backing up a step and bumping into the wall.

"You shouldn't go and reveal people's secrets like that, my dear. But, I suppose that the big reveal will have to come early. Too many things are spiraling out of control. Sakura, I should have sent you the book when you were eleven like I originally planned. I never should have let Kaho Mizuki convince me to wait."

"You know Mizuki-sensei?" Tomoyo gasped.

"She always seemed to know things she shouldn't."

"Yes, I knew her quite intimately, but we grew apart... Or at least she did."

"I want to call Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed, "He should hear this."

"Sakura, whatever you do, you can not let Syaoran know what I am about to tell you," Eriol insisted, "You can't tell anyone who might let the Li family know. Your lives depend on it, and more than that, the fate of the entire world will rest on your shoulders."

"If this will hurt the family, I will tell him." Sakura replied.

"I swear, that I have no desire to harm my cute little descendants," Eriol said, the seriousness of the mood dispersing as he drew out a golden key. "Key that hides the power of darkness," Sakura gasped in surprise as she heard the incantation begin, "reveal thy true self before me. Under the contract, I, Hiiragizawa Eriol, command you. Release!"

The air whipped around Eriol as magical energies were drawn into the key and it expanded into a long, ornate, golden staff topped by a golden sun and moon, shielded by a pair of strange statues. Sakura did not even get a chance to see what they were before Eriol called out in another incantation.

"I call upon the power of the night, release my servant unto me. I call upon the service of my familiar Ruby Moon. I call upon the power of the day, release my servant unto me. I call upon the service of my familiar Spinel Sun. Guardians awaken!"

The staff shrunk. Where Eriol had once been forced to hold it at a steep angle so it would not strike the ceiling, it was now only a few inches taller than he was. Two orbs of magical energy detached themselves from it and formed into two creatures that were strangely familiar – a winged cat and a winged human. They were as unlike her own guardians, Yue and Keroberos, as they were like them. Where Kero's true form was of an bright, yellow lion with golden armor and white, angelic wings; Spinel's was that of a stealthy, black panther with silver armor and wings like a great, blue butterfly. Sakura's Yue was an angelic presence as a man with white hair and feathered wings, garbed in white and soft blues; Ruby Moon, however, seemed almost demonic with her blood-red hair, black and pink butterfly wings, and garbed in black and pink robes.

"They are like the guardians of the Clow," Sakura said in awe.

"Don not compare me to that fat, lazy cat," Spinel said contemptuously.

"And I am much cuter than Yue, right, Eriol-kun?" Ruby asked, latching onto her master.

"How is this possible?" Sakura asked.

"It is simple, really," Eriol said, waving his staff and sending a coating of magical energy to seal the room, "Your father and I are the half-reincarnations of of the one you know as Clow Reed."

"My father is what?" Sakura exclaimed.

"You the reincarnation of who?" Tomoyo gasped.

"Five hundred years ago, Clow Reed was the most powerful magic user in the world. There was no man who could overpower him. No one could create any magics even close to rivaling his. No one could match him in combat or knowledge. No seer could see as much or as clearly as Clow. The past, present and future were open to him like a book. He had lived for more than a thousand years, knowing, before he even met a person, how a person had lived, was living, and would live. He also saw how they died. Every person he met died before him before they could even say his name. For over a thousand years, Clow Reed lived with no one but his own created familiars because to him, the entire world was already dead. It was a dark and miserable life."

"That's terrible. Who could live like that?" Sakura asked.

"Not Clow Reed. I have not met anyone who could live that life."

"When you said you couldn't see into my future, this is what you meant..." Tomoyo gasped.

"Tomoyo, you are the most precious thing in the world to me. I don't know how or why, but to me, you are just you. You are the only person who lives in my world. Only with you can I truly smile because, with you, I am not alone."

Tomoyo gaped, stunned by his words. Sakura looked between them, blushing as she saw the intensity with which Eriol looked at Tomoyo.

"What about me? Do I die?" Sakura asked nervously, breaking the uncomfortable silence that seemed to have engulfed the room.

"I don't know," Eriol admitted, "But in a little less than two years, you will be cast out of this world, and as powerful as I am, even my eyes cannot pierce the veil through which you will pass."

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked.

"It means, that after you leave, I will never lay eyes upon you again."

Sakura shuddered, "How does it happen? Can it be stopped?"

"You will make a choice out of selfless stubbornness. You will follow your heart then be guided by your curiosity. You will cast the spell that banishes you, Syaoran, and one old man from this world."

"You mean, I am going to kill Syaoran!" Sakura paled, feeling sick.

"No. I never said that you would die." Eriol reassured her, "You will just be somewhere I am not powerful enough, or will not be powerful enough, to reach. What will happen there will be up to the three of you to decide because I will never enter that place."

"I just don't want anything else to happen to Syaoran. He's already been through enough."

"I need to finish my story," Eriol said, "Do not worry about the future because the present has enough challenges to face." Tomoyo stepped over to Sakura and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Okay," Sakura said, "Tell me what happened to Clow Reed."

"He decided it was time for him to die," Eriol responded flatly.

Tomoyo gasped and sat down on the edge of Sakura's bed.

"Life was unbearable to the wizard, and he vowed that when his spirit was born again into this world, it would not share his sad existence. He split his soul in two so that each live created from his own could live a relatively normal life. As you can see, it didn't work out as he anticipated. What he failed to realize was that souls regenerate. By splitting his soul into two, he created two people with extraordinary magical power. Your father and I were born with power equal to Clow Reed. But, the soul did not split evenly.

"I received all the knowledge of Clow Reed, while your father received all the skill. I knew everything from birth, everything that Clow knew about the world, but my body needed to be retrained to do everything. To my parents, I seemed like a scholarly prodigy, able to read from infancy without being taught, only requiring to learn to do even the most inconsequential things like focus my eyes before I worked on getting current in this world.

"Your father was the one who received all the skills. Give him a sword, and he'll instinctively know how to fight. Give him a wand, and he will cast spells. Give him a needle and thread and he could even stitch the fabric of time and space on instinct. But he has no knowledge of how to do anything. If you ask him how to do any of these things, he wouldn't be able to tell you because he only has the skills and not the knowledge.

"However, things that should have been instinctual to me, I had to practice. Even when I was born, I needed to be on a respirator for a week before I was able to breathe on my own. I knew how to breathe, but I couldn't get my body to do it. You can imagine how frustrating that is. I spent the first eleven years of my life training my body to use magic. The next twenty, I spent in training my other skills: archery, swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, music, cooking, art, and sewing. I did this all while keeping my age frozen at eleven years old.

"During this time, I met a young girl named Kaho Mizuki, a priestess in training. She was a naturally powerful seer, so I trained her in magic. She fell in love with me. And I found that she was somewhat pleasant to spend time with. But, time passed, and she grew older. She became embarrassed to be seen with me and her love faded to friendship. Then I asked for her help. I asked her to watch over a newly born young girl named Kinomoto Sakura in Tomoeda."

Sakura gasped at this revelation, but Eriol continued, ignoring the interruption.

"Kaho worked at a shrine owned by her family, the Tsukimine shrine. She watched you from afar before taking a position as a student teacher where she met your brother. Unlike me, she could love, even when she knew that her time with someone was short. She dated your brother for a year when he was in his eighth year of school. Then, it was time for her to return to me.

"I told her my plans for you, to give you the Clow Cards. To secretly train you to use them through Keroberos with her help to guide you and protect you from harm. I would then appear as an adversary for you, forcing you to transform the cards and become an even more powerful magician than I so that you could rebalance the souls within your father and I and accomplish what Clow Reed failed to do.

"Kaho refused. She said it was too much for a little girl to deal with and refused to help me unless I waited until you were older. I could not do it without her, and so I waited and allowed myself to age along with you. I checked often for the right time to act, but it would have always ended up with your death. I briefly considered choosing someone else, but you were the only one I could trust with the power. Then, my hand was forced. You were getting too old, and as you age your magical development slows. I had to complete this before you reached maturity or your powers would never develop far enough to accomplish the transformation.

"I began my plan, subtly influencing people to put them in place. I had originally planned to have Tomoyo there as a loyal friend and support to help you, so I provided a business opportunity that forced her mother to move to Hong Kong. I influenced the Li seers, making them decide on you for Syaoran's next bridal candidate. I arranged so that Kaho would get a teaching position in your class. I set everything up perfectly, but then everything began to unravel. The Rusaki family noticed that their seers' predictions had changed, that they would soon become subject to the Li's. I notice that I could not see Tomoyo's future, and she played such a big role in your future that I did not know what would happen except that you would receive heavy injuries on several occasions. When you found the Book of Clow, and the Rusaki family start making moves against the Li's, the Li's increased their magical security so I could not influence you as I wanted.

"I thought that I might have a chance to restore my plans when you two fought, but for that, I depended on Tomoyo's interference. I could only hope that whatever was blocking her from my sight would block her actions from whatever forces were acting against me. That did not work out as planned, instead it drew the attention of the magic hunting sect of the Catholic church, the Templar, who once tried to oppose me in everything due to their belief that magic is evil.

"Then, because Syaoran got the emperor involved, his forces began to act as well when he discovered that your Father had too much magic to be influenced by his powers and the seal of power that kept his forces balanced against the Li's was stolen. I believe that he will make a move, and soon. But, he has shielded his palace against magical intrusion and I will not be able to see his plans unless I get inside."

"Tou-san just left to return there!" Sakura exclaimed fearfully.

"Remember what I told you about your father. He will reflexively protect himself, even if he doesn't understand what he is doing. He is heading into a dangerous place, but no harm will come to him," Eriol promised.


End file.
